Palestinian Prime Minister Mr Ahmed Korei threatened to quit this evening in what appeared to be a dispute with President Yasser Arafat over security powers key to a revival of Middle East peacemaking.
Israel has demanded that Mr Korei's government crack down on Palestinian militants behind suicide bombings which continued today with an attack that wounded three people near a West Bank checkpoint.
"Korei told Arafat he will not form the cabinet and doesn't want to be prime minister anymore," a Palestinian official said after the cancellation of a parliament session that was to ratify an emergency government sworn in on Tuesday.
Mr Arafat's reluctance to yield security control was a major factor behind the decision by Korei's predecessor, Mr Mahmoud Abbas, to resign as prime minister last month.
Mr Arafat's response to Mr Korei's threat was not immediately clear and senior officials said efforts were under way to persuade him not to quit.
Palestinian officials said Mr Korei submitted a handwritten note to Mr Arafat that did not amount to an official letter of resignation.
They said Mr Arafat wanted to dismiss Mr Nasser Youssef, who as interior minister would have security powers crucial to a US-backed peace "road map", and that Mr Korei opposed the move.