RAMALLAH, West Bank — Beleaguered Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat agreed Friday to appoint a prime minister, giving way to pressure from U.S. and European negotiators struggling to prod Israel and the Palestinians back into serious peace talks.
Arafat's sudden pledge was met with skepticism and curiosity both in the Palestinian territories and in Israel. It was unclear how soon the position would be created, who would get the job and what authority the prime minister would have.
"They're telling him this is how he can survive," said Ghassan Khatib, the Palestinian Authority labor minister and a longtime pollster. "I'd be very much surprised if something actual, like appointing a prime minister, happens. He committed, but he knows it's easy to escape the commitment."
Four times in the last two weeks, foreign negotiators have entered Arafat's compound and steered past heaps of brick and rubble that used to be offices for the Palestinian Authority. They met with Arafat in the only structure left standing when Israeli soldiers demolished most of his compound last year.
The negotiators represent Russia, the European Union and the United Nations -- three-fourths of the so-called quartet that is trying to reinvigorate peace talks even as Israeli and Palestinian death tolls rise by the week. The fourth member, the United States, stopped meeting with Arafat last year.
Israel also refuses to negotiate with Arafat, whom the Jewish state accuses of encouraging suicide bombings, sniper attacks and other assaults against Israelis. On Friday, Israeli leaders said again that words are useless as long as Arafat is in power.
In the Palestinian territories, peace moves are bogged down by broken infrastructure, military occupation and deep animosities. Still, the quartet has been pushing the Palestinians to draft a constitution, reform their Cabinet and appoint a prime minister. These are among the steps outlined in a so-called road map that the quartet believes will eventually lead to peace and Palestinian statehood.
Friday morning, after Arafat met once again with quartet representatives, his guards summoned reporters waiting outside. Arafat stood before them, flanked by foreigners, and read from a prepared statement.
"I have decided to appoint a prime minister," he said. "I will call for an immediate meeting of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the [Palestine Liberation Organization's] Central Council to discuss this decision and to take the needed measures."
