Arafat keeps grasp on security forces

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will keep his grip on security forces and place a handpicked confidant in the post of interior minister after winning a power struggle with his prime minister on Saturday.

The agreement clears the way for the formation of a government in the coming days and the resumption of high-level talks with Israel, but frustrates American efforts to sideline Arafat.

Also Saturday, Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinians in street clashes and blew up a large explosives lab hidden among buildings in a cramped West Bank refugee camp. In Gaza, soldiers killed two Palestinians in an off-limits zone near the fence with Israel.

Arafat and Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia met Saturday with top officials from the ruling Fatah movement to finalize agreement over control of eight security branches and the makeup of a new Cabinet.

Arafat came out the clear winner, maintaining his ultimate hold on security forces by placing them under the command of a 12-member national security council that he chairs. Qureia had demanded those forces be put under the control of an interior minister of his choice. Arafat, too, rejected the prime minister's pick for interior minister and chose his longtime confidant Hakam Bilawi.

The two leaders will meet today to work out several final points of dispute. In a move to further tighten his hold over security, Arafat wants Bilawi's responsibilities to include overseeing public order, meaning he would direct security forces in carrying out the orders of the national security council. Qureia is seeking to limit Bilawi's authority.

The compromise is sure to upset U.S. officials, who have sought to isolate Arafat. The previous prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, quit after four months after failing to wrest security forces from Arafat's control.

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