RAMALLAH, West Bank, August 31 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - While Washington has reportedly warned the Palestinian Legislative Council against dropping Mahmud Abbas government, the European Union declared it will continue to talk to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

On the ground, Israel continues to impose choking blockades on the Palestinians, carry on with its assassination policy and show no signs of a letup. The Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip live under life threatening daily conditions.

Further fueling inter-Palestinian differences, U.S. envoy John Wolf “has warned the Palestinians that Washington would not tolerate the collapse of the government of Abbas,” according to Palestinian sources Sunday, August 31, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Wolf, the man appointed by U.S. President George W. Bush to oversee the implementation of the roadmap for peace, talked to the speaker of the Palestinian parliament Ahmad Qorei over the weekend as a stand-off between Abbas and Arafat showed no signs of abating.

"The message from Wolf to Qorei was that the Americans will not allow the fall of the Abbas government," said a source close to the Palestinian leadership, according to AFP.

The U.S. has refused to have any dealings with Arafat, instead conducting negotiations on the roadmap with the more moderate Abbas.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell recently appealed to Arafat to work with Abbas to help bring an end to a cycle of violence culminated in the recent Jerusalem bus bombing and Israel’s assassination of a political Hamas leader.

Speaking at a joint press conference with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, on August 21, Powell called on Arafat to work with Premier Abbas "and to make available those security elements under his control so that they can allow progress to be made on the roadmap and terror and end this violence."

Qorei has reportedly been trying to mediate a compromise between the two one-time allies who have become involved in an increasingly public battle for control of the Palestinian security apparatus.

Abbas has decided to up the stakes by seeking a vote of confidence in his government at a meeting of the parliament, the Palestinian Legislative Council, next week.

Solana, left, insists the EU will deal with Arafat

On the other hand, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana rejected demands by Israel Sunday to sever contacts with Arafat.

"We will continue contacts with Palestinians and the Palestinian president," Solana said to reporters after talks with Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in Tel Aviv.

"We respect any decision by a democratic country but one has to respect our position that has not changed."

Israel has been urging the EU to follow the lead of the United States and cut off all ties with Arafat, whom it accuses of seeking to undermine the peace process and his Prime Minister Abbas.

Shalom, for his part, reiterated that it saw Arafat as part of the problem and not the solution.

"Arafat is doing his utmost to destabilize Abu Mazen (Abbas) but it must be clear that we will not have any contacts with a government that is under the influence of Arafat," he said.

Solana expressed reservations about the Israeli government's determination to pursue Hamas activists after a series of air strikes in Gaza which have killed 13 people, including a number of civilians.

"We recognize that Israel has a right to defend itself but it must avoid certain acts which can affect constructive relations between the two parties," he said.

Palestinians Suffer

Palestinian children pay the price

To ordinary Palestinians, living under siege in Gaza and West Bank cities or those behind Israeli bars, the whole issue of Arafat-Abbas power struggle is just “little conflict” that must be left aside whereas the focus should be on the one and only enemy; namely Israel.

Jailed members of Arafat's Fatah movement appealed Sunday on the veteran Palestinian leader and his Prime Minister Abbas to end their power struggle and focus their attention on Israel.

"We appeal to both of you to forget your little conflict," a statement received by AFP in the name of detainees held in Israeli jails said.

Abbas is expected to seek a vote of confidence from the Palestinian parliament this week to strengthen his position.

The pair, who co-founded Fatah in the 1960s, had long been allies, but their relationship has shown increasing signs of strain in recent weeks.

The prisoners said the power battle was diverting attention away from the actions of the Israelis.

"Meanwhile the enemy is building the wall and trying to impose a new status quo in the ground and continues to demolish homes and uproot trees and build settlements and kill children and elderly and women," they said.

Some 6,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli jails, thousands of whom are Fatah followers.