U.S. Backs Abbas

Further fueling inter-Palestinian differences, U.S. envoy John Wolf “has warned the Palestinians that Washington would not tolerate the collapse of the government of Abbas,” according to Palestinian sources Sunday, August 31, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Wolf, the man appointed by U.S. President George W. Bush to oversee the implementation of the roadmap for peace, talked to the speaker of the Palestinian parliament Ahmad Qorei over the weekend as a stand-off between Abbas and Arafat showed no signs of abating.

"The message from Wolf to Qorei was that the Americans will not allow the fall of the Abbas government," said a source close to the Palestinian leadership, according to AFP.

The U.S. has refused to have any dealings with Arafat, instead conducting negotiations on the roadmap with the more moderate Abbas.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell recently appealed to Arafat to work with Abbas to help bring an end to a cycle of violence culminated in the recent Jerusalem bus bombing and Israel’s assassination of a political Hamas leader.

Speaking at a joint press conference with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, on August 21, Powell called on Arafat to work with Premier Abbas "and to make available those security elements under his control so that they can allow progress to be made on the roadmap and terror and end this violence."

Qorei has reportedly been trying to mediate a compromise between the two one-time allies who have become involved in an increasingly public battle for control of the Palestinian security apparatus.

Abbas has decided to up the stakes by seeking a vote of confidence in his government at a meeting of the parliament, the Palestinian Legislative Council, next week.