Israel Matzav

It's official: Fayyad is gone; replacement head of university that mocked Sbarro massacre?

'Moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, despite being urged not to do so by the United States and the European Union. Abu Mazen has asked Fayyad to head a 'transitional government' until....

Fayyad submitted his letter of resignation to Abbas during a 20-minute meeting in the PA president's office in Ramallah.

It was not immediately clear who would replace Fayyad. However, Palestinian sources mentioned two names as possible candidates: Mohamed Mustafa, head of the PLO's Palestine Investment Fund and Rami Hamdallah, president of An-Najah University in Nablus.

I'm sure that the US and the Europeans would be thrilled to have Hamdallah. Educated in Jordan and England, Hamdallah has been the president of An-Najah since 1998. The picture below was taken at An-Najah University in September 2001, a month after the Sbarro suicide bombing took place:

On well, if Abu Bluff selects Hamdallah, we all get the message.

In any event, Abu Bluff has accepted Fayyad's resignation.

"President Abbas informed Fayyad that he has accepted his resignation," the statement said, adding that the PA president asked Fayyad to head a caretaker government until the establishment of a new government.

Abbas and Fayyad were scheduled to meet late Thursday to discuss the crisis.  However, the meeting was called off without any explanation.

Palestinian sources said that the US and some EU countries tried over the weekend to prevent Fayyad's resignation, but to no avail.

The sources said that US Secretary of State John Kerry phoned Abbas and urged him to keep Fayyad in office.

...

According to the official, Fayyad had submitted his resignation to Abbas in February, but the PA president asked Fayyad to delay his resignation until after the visit of US President Barack Obama to the region.

Fayyad's decision to quit is believed to be linked to a sharp dispute that erupted between him and Abbas over the resignation of PA Finance Minister Nabil Qassis.

Qassis, who was handpicked by Abbas, was appointed as Finance Minister last year. While Fayyad accepted Qassis' resignation, Abbas demanded that the finance minister be reinstated.
Fayyad's decision is also linked to recurring attacks against him and his government by senior Fatah officials.

In recent weeks, several Fatah officials have publicly demanded the resignation of Fayyad, holding him responsible for the sharp financial crisis in the Palestinian territories.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Abu Mazen, An-Najah University, Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad, Sbarro terror attack

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:28 PM