Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who is facing new Israeli threats to expel him following a suicide bombing, has appointed an emergency cabinet. He has also declared a state of emergency in Palestinian areas. The eight-member cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister-designate, Ahmed Qurei, who said the decisions were necessary for the Palestinian Authority to assert its control over a deteriorating security situation. The BBC's correspondent in Ramallah says Arafat's decision, which ends lengthy consultations about the cabinet's composition, is a desperate measure to project leadership where there has been none. The declaration comes amid calls from within Israel to carry out a threat to "remove" Arafat following Saturday's suicide bomb in the Israeli town of Haifa.

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