MIDDLE EAST: New Palestinian Prime Minister Mr Mahmoud Abbas yesterday set himself a series of daunting, maybe unobtainable goals, when he signalled to the Palestinian Legislative Council in Ramallah in his inaugural speech that he would not countenance ongoing attacks by militant groups, which he said undermined the Palestinian cause.
Mr Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, made his remarks to parliament only hours before it passed a vote of confidence in his new cabinet by a margin of 51 to 18.
The issue of the "unauthorised possession of weapons" he said, would be "relentlessly addressed". In a message to armed groups, he emphasised there would be "no other decision-making authority except for the Palestinian Authority".
"There is no room for weapons except in the hands of the government" he added.
With a stern looking Mr Yasser Arafat sitting alongside him in the parliament, Abu Mazen, who was one of the architects of the Oslo peace accord, vowed to end what he called "armed chaos" in Palestinian areas.
But if the new prime minister, who forged his cabinet in a bitter power struggle with Mr Arafat, sounded an anti-terror message, he also signalled he had no intention of compromising on any of the key Palestinian political demands - an independent Palestinian State on all of the land conquered by Israel in 1967, free of settlements, and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Pressed on the issue of the right of return for Palestinian refugees, Abu Mazen reaffirmed his support for United Nations Resolution 194, which he said stipulated "compensation" for those refugees "who don't want to return \".
In a speech that also contained a message for Israelis, the new Prime Minister said Palestinians wanted "a lasting peace with you achieved through negotiation".
But Abu Mazen will first have to tame the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, who were quick with their riposte yesterday, declaring they had no intention of laying down their arms. "Of course we will not \" said Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza strip.
He can also expect that his battle with Mr Arafat over the constitution of the cabinet will not be their last. The Palestinian leader fears, correctly, that the international pressure exerted on him to agree to the creation of the post of prime minister, was largely motivated by an attempt to sideline him.
On first indications, Abu Mazen cannot expect any favours from Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon. Aides to the prime minister have already made it clear that any confidence building measures demanded of Israel will only happen once the new government proves it is prepared to take on the militants.
In a signal Israel will not be affording Abu Mazen a grace period, an Apache helicopter fired missiles at a car in the Gaza Strip, killing the Nidal Salama, (38), a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The strike also killed a bystander.