Palestinian Minister of Communications Azzam al-Ahmed said Monday that Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei had withdrawn his resignation right after leader Yasser Arafat agreed to give his government full competence.

The minister told Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda daily that he had a meeting with Qurei at the latter's house for eight hours Sunday.

Al-Ahmed said Qurei, who has been ill for days, told him that his resignation was over.

"The reason for Qurei's disappearance in the last few days is his sickness, not his resignation or disputes with others," al-Ahmed said.

The Palestinian cabinet might convene in the West Bank city of Ramallah Monday if Qurei recovers from his illness and be able to attend the weekly session.

Al-Ahmed said Qurei is planning to hold a meeting with Arafat to discuss the competence that was given to Qurei's government, especially security authority.

Arafat issued a presidential decree last week, announcing that the eight Palestinian security apparatuses had been merged into three and security authority would be in the hands of Qurei's

government.

Source: Xinhua