Word: parliament
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That land was rocked last week by what Palestinians are calling the "earthquake." Hamas, the militant organization identified as a terrorist group by the U.S. and the European Union, won 76 seats in the 132-seat Palestinian parliament, trouncing the ruling Fatah party, which had dominated Palestinian politics for more than four decades. Fatah Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, who had warned against holding the elections, handed in his resignation as soon as the landslide became apparent. Although Fatah's moderate leader Mahmoud Abbas (popularly known as Abu Mazen) will stay on for now as President, he must find...
...Hamas ready to rule? Under the strong-arm regime of Yasser Arafat, the Fatah-dominated parliament was mostly a rubber stamp. A Hamas-controlled legislature is likely to wield much more power, severely restricting Abbas' ability to make decisions independently. That may lead to battles over the control of state agencies...
That said, there hasn't been a lot of progress lately in the quest for peace. Abbas and the Fatah-dominated parliament were too weak to force radical groups like Hamas to lay down their weapons--a prerequisite for further talks. Israel under Sharon, meanwhile, had decided to go it alone, a policy that Olmert is expected to continue. Absent any breakthrough, Israel is likely to make some further withdrawals from the West Bank and then, perhaps, establish its borders unilaterally. That could force Hamas' hand. "What is going to force them to change their stance is the fact that...
...will use an iron fist against those who misuse their weapons." The situation is even more volatile because Fatah members blame Abbas for the party's poor election showing. Thousands of angry Fatah supporters demonstrated late last week to call for his resignation, and Fatah gunmen stormed the Palestinian parliament. Isolated and weak, the President could probably do little to stop internecine violence if it broke out. "He's trying to pretend he can walk on water," says an aide to Abbas. "But he has problems everywhere he looks...
NAMED. SHEIK SABAH AL-AHMAD AL-SABAH, 76, liberal-minded and pragmatic Prime Minister of Kuwait; as emir of the oil-rich Persian Gulf state; in Kuwait City. His appointment came after Kuwait's parliament ousted his ailing cousin Sheik Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, who had ascended to the throne following the death of the previous emir, Sheik Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, two weeks...