New Palestinian cabinet named

Arafat has given the reshuffle a green light

The central committee of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement has approved a new Palestinian cabinet.

Fatah officials say Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qurei's new political line-up appoints Nasser Youssef - an ally of Mr Arafat - to the position of interior minister.

Mr Youssef would be "empowered" to impose security to end what outgoing Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas called the "armed chaos" of militant factions, they said.

The list has not yet been finalised, but several other supporters of Mr Arafat are expected to be included.

Among them is a supporter of the main Islamist militant group Hamas and two others from leftist secular factions.

Under the new appointments, Saeb Erekat will retain his position as negotiations minister, and former cabinet affairs minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo becomes information minister.

Officials say about half of the cabinet will be new faces, but a number of established figures are retaining their positions - including the Foreign Minister, Nabil Shaath, and the Finance Minister, Salam Fayad.

Mr Qurei is expected to present his government to the Palestinian Legislative Council next week.

The resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas earlier this month fuelled international concern for the fragile peace process.

Mr Abbas - also known as Abu Mazen - lost a power struggle with Mr Arafat over control of Palestinian security forces and resigned earlier this month.

Diplomacy reeling

The four powers behind the Middle East roadmap peace plan denounced fresh Palestinian violence and Israeli settlements on Friday.

On Friday, two Israelis - including a two-month-old baby girl - were killed in an attack on a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

The Palestinian attacker was also killed, and two other people were left injured.

The attack, in the settlement of Negohot, near Hebron, took place as Israelis celebrated Jewish New Year.

The Israeli holiday celebrations mean the Israeli army has imposed a total blockade of the Palestinian territories and cancelled all Palestinian travel permits.

Security has also been stepped up on the eve of the third anniversary of the Palestinian "intifada" or uprising on Sunday.