Senior sources inside Fatah Central Committee affirmed to al-Ayyam newspaper that about 8 ministers will be leaving the government and that there will be about 11 new ministers which will be half of the cabinet which will consist of 24 ministers; the sources said they expect the presenting of the government to the PLC to get its vote of confidence within the next two days after laying the final touches on it today. The sources affirmed that some of the faces and figures would enter the government for the first time, mainly Maj. Gen. Nasr Yousef, member in Fatah Central Committee, who will assume the Interior Ministry portfolio, while others will leave it, such as Col. Mohammed Dahlan, and others will return to it, such as Saeb Erekat who will assume the negotiations affairs portfolio, and others will maintain their portfolios, such as Salam Fayyad who will stay as Finance Minister and Nabil Shaath as Minister of External Affairs. The sources said that 4 factions, other than Fatah Movement, will join the government: the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) will be represented by Qays Abdul Kareem (Abu Layla), the Palestinian People's Party to be represented by Ghassan Khatib, Popular Struggle Front to be represented by Ahmad Majdalani, and FIDA Party to be represented by Zuhaira Kamal, in addition to the Independent Islamic Bloc to be represented by Musa Za'bout. Palestinian PM Designate Ahmad Qurei' held a closed bilateral meeting with President Arafat yesterday morning to hold consultations on the names before posing them in Fatah Central Committee meeting which was held yesterday also. A third meeting for the PLO Executive Committee was held where he presented the names of the new government. Qurei' also held two sessions of consultation with the Popular Front "The General Command" and its representative Riyad Alami, and with Arab Palestinian Front with its head Jamil Shehadeh. The representatives of the Arab Palestinian Front expressed their desire to join the new government. The representatives of the Popular Front "General Command" said they will not join the government but they will support all positive moves that meet with the aspirations of the Palestinian people. meanwhile, al-Ayyam got to know that Ahmad Qurei' is moving to give the post of Secretary of the Cabinet to D. Hasan Abu Libdeh who is currently head of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

SEMI-FINAL IMAGE OF THE NEW CABINET

The following is the semi-final image of the new cabinet:
1- Ahmad Qurei' - Prime Minister
2- Nasr Yousef - Minister of the Interior
3- Nabil Shaath - Minister for External Affairs
4- Salam Fayyad - Minister of Finance
5- Yasser Abed Rabbo - Minister of Information
6- Saeb Erekat - Minister of Negotiations Affairs
7- Maher Masri - Minister of Economy
8- Nabil Qasis - Minister of Planning
9- Jawad Tibi - Minister of Health
10- Nahed Rayyes - Minister of Justice
11- Yahyia Yakhlaf - Minister of Culture
12- Jamal Shobaki - Minister of Local Government
13- Hisham Abdul Razeq - Minister of Prisoners and Detainees Affairs
14- Intisar al-Wazir - Minister of Social Affairs
15- Rafiq Natsheh - Ministry of Agriculture
16- Mitri Abu Eitah - Ministry of Tourism
17- Abdul Rahman Hamad - Ministry of Energy
18- Azzam al-Ahmad - Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology
19- Ghassan Khatib - Ministry of Labor
20- Ahmad Majdalani (not specified yet)
21- Zuhaira Kamal (not specified yet)
22- Qays Abdul Karim (not specified yet)
23- Rawhi Fattouh (not specified yet)
24- Musa Za'bout (not specified yet)

Published at Al-Ayyam Newspaper on Sept. 28, 2003