Minister for Security Affairs Mohammad Dahlan told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that the current crisis in the leadership would be resolved. President Yasser Arafat clashed with his Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas over recent security appointments and Abbas role in the negotiations with Israel.

Dahlan said "it is healthy and vital to have not only one idea but several ones." He suggested the tensions between the two leaders defied a permanent solution saying, "until the next crisis, in a week, a month, three months, who knows?"

Dahlan, who is close to Abbas, stressed that Arafat is his president and respects him as so. "Arafat is the symbol of the Palestinian cause and our elected leader," he added.

He also expressed doubts about the prospect of an independent state within the next two years. "2005 is too soon, but we will have a state." (Copyrights © 2001 Jerusalem-Times.net 09/04/03)