Arafat's Death Highlights Palestinian Divisions

Despite naming a successor to Yasser Arafat, the 75-year-old Palestinian leader, who died in the early hours of Thursday morning, the Palestinian Authority still faces a tumultuous time in the immediate aftermath of its iconic leader's death.

Parliamentary speaker Rawhi Fattuh, a 55-year-old married man with three children, who was sworn in as acting head of the Palestinian Authority in the hours following the official announcement of Yasser Arafat's death, is a minor politician seen as too marginal to stamp his mark on a turbulent post-Arafat era.

For a man who spent 30 years in exile with the leader, returning with him in triumph to Gaza in 1994, and a loyal lieutenant in the mainstream Fatah party, Fattuh has never emerged from the shadows as a key player in his own right.

"I swear to Almighty God that I will be committed to the homeland and its sacred places and to respect the law and constitution," he said during Thursday's swearing-in ceremony in parliament just hours after Arafat died.

Observers say there is a consensus that Fattuh is far too marginal, lacking a real power base to be practical or successful. Pledging that elections would be held within a set two-month timeframe, he hailed Arafat as the "father of Palestinian nationalism -- the first fighter and a great martyr."

Fattuh was born in 1949 in the depressed southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, which straddles the Egyptian border. He was elected MP to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1996, serving as deputy speaker until 2004.

Faithful follower of Arafat

His one and only stab at a cabinet job came in the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, who has struggled to impose his authority over the past year. He served briefly as agriculture minister in early 2004. But in March 2004, he resigned to campaign as parliamentary speaker. As a faithful Arafat lieutenant in a house dominated by Fatah, he easily won the election by a vote of 51-15. Five MPs spoiled their ballots.

At the time, Palestinian officials said he was chosen as Fatah's man for the job because of his Gaza birth, in a bid to ratchet up unity between the divided Palestinian territories ahead of Israel's plan to evacuate the Gaza Strip next year.

According to the Basic Law, Fattuh will serve as interim PA president only until elections are held within 60 days after the president's death or incapacitation. Even so, his position will only be honorary. Arafat's far more powerful number two in the Palestine Liberation Organization, Mahmud Abbas, is already effectively in charge of the PLO. Qureia is likely to stay on as premier until elections.

Experts fear in-fighting

But Israel's continued incursions and closures in the Palestinian territories are likely to stall polls, analysts have predicted, meaning that a weak front man could only exacerbate the domestic infighting expected after Arafat's end.

Another name in the frame is jailed West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. However, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom categorically ruled out any role for Barghuti in the Palestinian leadership following the death of Arafat. "Barghouti was convicted to life in prison and he will stay in prison until the end of his days, given that he was implicated in numerous terrorist attacks that caused the deaths of numerous innocent Israelis," Shalom told reporters.

Barghouti -- who was often tipped as a possible successor to Arafat due to his enormous popularity -- was handed five life prison terms for murder by an Israeli court on June 6.