RAMALLAH, Sept 4: Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, struggling to win more power from Yasser Arafat and push the roadmap for peace with Israel, on Thursday called on lawmakers to back him or sack him.

Mr Abbas, appointed by Yasser Arafat in April under international pressure but lacking his rival’s grassroots popularity, stopped short of asking for a vote of confidence during an address to the Palestine Legislative Council (PLC).

But as Mr Arafat’s supporters staged anti-Abbas protests in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, parliamentary speaker Ahmed Korei said 15 out of the 85 lawmakers had filed a petition asking for such a vote. There was no immediate decision on the request.

Mr Abbas’s removal by parliament, which is dominated by Arafat loyalists, could doom the US-brokered roadmap, already under threat from fresh bloodshed and the cancellation of a ceasefire by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Throwing down a gauntlet to lawmakers, Mr Abbas said power-sharing problems nee-ded to be urgently addressed and he was ready to leave office if he did not get his way.

“Either provide the possibility of strong support for carrying out (the mandate) or you can take it back,” Mr Abbas said while dozens of demonstrators stood outside chanting slogans against him.

Speaking in even tones, Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel for a lack of progress in peace moves and said the United States had done too little to restrain the Israeli army. “We...reiterate that we will continue our efforts to restore calm,” he said.

POWER STRUGGLE: The power struggle between Mr Abbas and Mr Arafat has centred on Mr Abbas’s demand, backed by the United States, for control over the security forces who are crucial for reining in militants, as required by the roadmap.

Mr Arafat has retained authority over most security services, drawing US and Israeli accusations that he is trying to undermine his reform-minded prime minister.

But a leaflet distributed by Fatah’s Ramallah branch accused Mr Abbas’s administration of acting like a US and Israeli puppet and called for its removal.

In an apparent bid to defuse the crisis, lawmakers voted to hold a closed-door session on Saturday to hear Mr Abbas’s account of his dispute with Mr Arafat.

Underlining Mr Abbas’s woes, a militant group affiliated with the Fatah faction, in which both he and Mr Arafat hold leadership roles, was one of the groups that claimed joint responsibility for a West Bank ambush just before parliament met.—Reuters