Second term starts for Sharon, Arafat to name first PM

While Sharon’s rightist coalition could complicate international peace efforts, a UN envoy said on Friday that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat had pledged to name the Palestinian Authority’s first Prime minister next week.

The appointment would be a step towards meeting US and European demands to Palestinians to reform the Authority, root out corruption and end violence in a 29-month-old uprising for statehood.

Terje Roed-Larsen, UN envoy to West Asia, said after meeting Arafat that the Palestinian leader pledged to announce his nominee for premier and seek approval for the appointment at a Palestinian Legislative Council session next Saturday.

Sharon, first elected Israel’s Prime Minister in February, 2001, said in his speech to Parliament that Arafat must be replaced. He ruled out a return of Palestinian refugees to homes they fled during the 1948 West Asia War, a major Palestinian demand in peace negotiations. Sharon, 75, repeated his position that Palestinians waging the uprising must stop ‘‘incitement and terror’’ and implement deep democratic reforms before any peace talks can resume. (Reuters)