A Palestinian prime minister will be appointed next week

The UN envoy Tery Rod Larsen said yesterday that the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will appoint a prime minister next week and will ask the PLO to agree on his selection.

In response to pressure from Washington, and the European Union, Arafat agreed since two weeks to appoint a prime minister as part of political reforms, demanded by international mediators in an attempt to restore the Israeli- Palestinian peace talks.

Rod Larsen said "Mr. Arafat informed me he will call for the meeting of the Central Council of the PLO by the end of next week and immediately after that, next Saturday, a meeting for the Palestinian legislative council will be held."

However, the central council which is composed of 128 members, is an intermediate commission between the Palestinian Council and the PLO executive committee.

Upon leaving a meeting with Arafat in Ramullah, Larsen described appointing a prime minister as "an important step." The person to be appointed by Arafat to this post is not identified yet.