The Palestinian parliament ratified the new post of prime minister on Tuesday, drawing U.S. praise coupled with disappointment over President Yasser Arafat's retention of key powers. Despite reservations voiced in Washington over the division of authority, it appeared the move toward reform demanded by a U.S.-led "Quartet" of international peace brokers met President Bush's condition for unveiling a peace "road map."

The 69-1 vote eroded Arafat's political dominance nearly 30 months after the start of a Palestinian uprising for statehood and stripped him of powers to approve cabinet members.

But the bill, which Palestinian officials said Arafat later signed into law, left him in charge of security and peacemaking in the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The new prime minister, expected to be leading moderate Mahmoud Abbas, will take over the day-to-day running of the Palestinian Authority with a mandate to purge corruption, help rein in resistance and foster a return to peacemaking.

Bush had said the release of the long-awaited peace plan to end Israeli-Palestinian violence and establish a Palestinian state by 2005 was conditional on the appointment of a prime minister with "real authority."

PHOTO CAPTION

Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council vote on empowering their first Prime Minister in Ramallah March 18, 2003. (Osama Silwadi/Reuters)