Palestinian PM reportedly resigns over rift with President

PanARMENIAN.Net - Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad offered his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, April 10 following a rift between the two men over government policy, Reuters reported citing two sources.

Abbas was due to return to the West Bank from Jordan on Thursday, and it was not immediately clear whether he would accept the resignation of the U.S.-educated economist.

Reuters says a spokeswoman at Fayyad's office declined to comment on the reports, which followed persistent rumors that Abbas wanted to sack Fayyad following internal political wrangling.

Western governments have offered staunch support to Fayyad ever since he became Prime Minister in 2007, seeing him as the architect of Palestinian state-building efforts, and his departure could complicate their ties with Abbas.

Long-strained relations between the 61-year-old Fayyad and Abbas worsened last month when the prime minister accepted the resignation of his finance minister, against the wishes of the president.

Initially successful in revitalizing a sluggish Palestinian economy, Fayyad ran into trouble last year when Israel and the United States withheld vital funds to punish the Palestinians for seeking de facto statehood at the United Nations.

Abbas's Fatah party accused Fayyad of failing to foresee the turmoil and the party's council issued an unprecedented rebuke last week, saying: "The policies of the current government are improvised and confused in many financial and economic issues."

Speaking earlier on Wednesday about the rumors of a division between Fayyad and Abbas, a senior diplomat in Jerusalem said Western aid donors would be very upset to see the respected prime minister leave his post.

"Fayyad's departure would have a serious impact on relations with the international community," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It is hard to overstate how important Fayyad has been."