Prime minister determined to quit

JERUSALEM — The Palestinian Authority was plunged into political turmoil Saturday when Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia submitted his resignation in response to a spate of kidnappings in the Gaza Strip by militants demanding an end to official corruption.

Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, rejected the resignation, but Qureia said at a Cabinet meeting that he was standing by his decision to quit, officials said.

The Cabinet is expected to reconvene Monday to discuss the impasse.

"There is a crisis. There is a state of chaos in the security situation," Qureia said after announcing his resignation to the Cabinet in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Qureia said he had met twice with Arafat on Saturday to discuss what he described as an "unprecedented state of chaos" in the Gaza Strip after militants there kidnapped the police chief, a senior officer and four French aid workers Friday. "This is a real disaster," he said.

All the hostages were released unharmed after several hours of negotiations, but the abductions were alarming signs of the breakdown of law and order and a sharp challenge to Arafat's leadership. The militants accused the police chief, Ghazi Jabali, of corruption.

The abductions triggered the resignations of two top security officials in Gaza: Rashid Abu Shbak, head of the Preventive Security Service, and Maj. Gen. Amin al Hindi, the head of the Palestinian Intelligence Service.

Moving to shore up his authority, Arafat replaced Jabali with another senior officer, Saeb al-Ajez, and appointed a relative, Maj. Gen. Musa Arafat, as head of the national security forces in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority declared a state of emergency in the area early Saturday.

It was also announced that Arafat had ordered the consolidation of the multiple Palestinian security services into three branches, a longstanding demand of the United States and other nations.

The often-feuding security agencies employ more than 40,000 Palestinians but have been largely ineffective in curbing militant groups and maintaining law and order.

Militant groups in Gaza criticized the security shakeup, contending that it had only installed more corrupt officers close to Arafat. Hundreds of protesters, including armed men, marched to the headquarters of the Palestinian Legislative Council building in Gaza City to protest the new appointments. A sign held by demonstrators said, "No to corruption. Yes to reform."