Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, facing fresh Israeli threats to "remove" him, today swore in an emergency eight-member cabinet led by Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie.
Qurie has said the cabinet will try to end "a state of chaos" in Palestinian areas by pressing militant factions to halt attacks on Israelis. Israel has threatened to exile Arafat unless Palestinian authorities start cracking down on militants.
"Given the circumstances we are facing..., we are required to rise to the level of the challenge. To my brother Abu Ala, may God help him and I wish all the best and success," Arafat said after the ceremony, using Qurie's nom de guerre.
However former Palestinian Security Minister Mohammed Dahlan said an emergency government had little chance of success and questioned Arafat's decision to form the crisis cabinet.
"The preparation and the direction for the emergency government seem not to have been studied in a real and serious manner. Therefore, I do not think there is a mechanism and a vision to get out of the crisis," he said.
"I hope I am wrong because President Arafat - not only the prime minister - shoulders the burden at this stage because he was the one who declared the state of emergency."
Dahlan - a close ally of former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas who quit after falling out with Arafat - said he regretted the cabinet, which is dominated by Arafat's Fatah movement, did not include a wider array of political groups.
Palestinian officials said the pared-down cabinet, a third of its forerunner's size, did not need parliamentary approval because Arafat had declared a state of emergency on Sunday a day after an Islamist suicide bomber killed 19 people in Israel.
Israel responded by saying the day of Arafat's "removal" was drawing nearer and any decision to move against him might depend on Palestinian actions in the coming 48 hours.
The cabinet planned its first session shortly after the swearing-in rite held in Arafat's half-demolished compound where the former guerrilla leader is confined by Israeli forces confronting a Palestinian revolt launched three years ago.
Qurie's team included Nasser Youssef in the pivotal interior minister's post. Youssef, a general, is one of Arafat's old allies but recently criticised his leadership.
Arafat chose Qurie, ex-speaker of the Palestinian assembly, to replace Mahmoud Abbas who quit last month over what he called obstruction in taking over security powers held by Arafat and a lack of peacemaking support from Israel and Washington.