The Palestinian justice minister announced his resignation Saturday to protest Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's refusal to share power, adding to growing turmoil in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian justice minister, Nahed Arreyes, said he has been stripped of much of his authority over the legal system. Last year, Arafat created a rival agency to the Justice Ministry and continues to control the judiciary.
| Dueling "Justice Ministries", neither of which seems particularly committed to justice. How paleostineian. |
Arreyes said he submitted his resignation to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia on Wednesday. However, Qureia said he has not accepted the resignation and would press the minister to stay. "We stand by him and we hope we can resolve the issue," Qureia told reporters in Ramallah. The resignation underscored the growing crisis in the Palestinian Authority. Arafat has been trying to beat back demands for internal reform. Adding to the chaos, different groups of gunmen have backed players on all sides, carrying out kidnappings and shootings. In an interview in his Gaza City home, Arreyes said that he never had no longer had authority over state prosecutors. "The prosecution should be under the control of the Justice Ministry, according to the law," he said, declining to elaborate. "My resignation comes as a protest against the incorrect position of the prosecution."
Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Qassis also resigned, but apparently not as an act of protest. Qassis said he was leaving the Cabinet to serve as president of Bir Zeit Cabaret University, the largest in the West Bank.
| Also, there was nothing to plan anymore. |
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