RAMALLAH, West Bank, September 6 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat informed members of the Palestinian Legislative Council Saturday, September 6, that he has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas.

Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr had confirmed that Abbas "submitted his resignation to president Arafat today and we will see what will happen."

The resignation letter was delivered to Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah by Palestinian cabinet secretary Hakam Balawi, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoting a sources close to Abbas.

Arafat’s national security advisor Jibril Rajub had earlier told reporters that the Palestinian leader was still considering Abbas' resignation letter.

"President Arafat is still considering the letter and has not yet made up his mind," he said.

Senior Palestinian negotiators Saeb Erekat had announced earlier Abbas’s intention to step down.

"I heard Abu Mazen say that he will resign today," Erakat told AFP.

The bitter row between Arafat and Abu Mazen hinges on control of the security apparatus.

The resignation came just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell reaffirmed his support for Abbas and his efforts to wrest full control of the Palestinian security apparatus.

Although also chief of the interior ministry, Abbas was in charge of only three security services, while the others remained firmly in the grip of Arafat.

Sources close to the premier told AFP that he spent the morning locked in talks with supporters in his office, before tendering his resignation.

He then headed to the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah to lay out his disagreements with Arafat to MPs in a closed-doors session.

Abbas and Arafat had been due to meet with MPs separately in a bid to paper over their disagreement, parliamentary sources said earlier.

"It's the only way forward," a senior Palestinian official was quoted as saying, referring to the prime minister's resignation, in the New York Times on Saturday. "We basically have come to a dead end here."

By resigning, Abbas hopes that Arafat will bow to international pressure and bring him back - or bring in another prime minister with more authority, said the American daily.

Abbas is also gambling that his resignation will compel Israel and the U.S. to take dramatic action to save the internationally-endorsed roadmap peace plan, said the Times.

"It's in everybody's interest now to focus, and to see what can be done," the official told the daily.

Addressing Palestinian lawmakers Thursday, September 4, Abbas had heaped blamed on Israel for the current stalemate in the peacemaking drive and criticized Washington for not laying pressures on Tel Aviv to abide by the roadmap.

The Times quoted Abbas aides as saying that he had concluded that there was had no choice but to resign, in light of the recurring confrontations on the extent of his powers with Arafat and the Fatah movement.

It also quoted Palestinian legislators as saying that they have been warned in recent days by Bush administration officials that if Abbas' government collapsed, the White House might walk away from the peace plan.

Amr told Al Jazeera television earlier that Abbas was offended by protests during a PLC meeting, in which he was accused of being a traitor, Israel Radio reported Saturday.

Some 18 Palestinian MPs had filed petitions demanding a vote of confidence in his Abbas' government.

Parliament Speaker Ahmed Korei initially opposed holding a confidence vote, saying he did not want the legislature to get dragged into the power struggle between the two leaders.

However, he changed his mind on Friday, September 5, and agreed to hold a vote, probably later this week, according to the Israeli daily.

Senior Palestinian officials said the bill proposal will be submitted in the middle of next week, and will include the main points of contention between Arafat and Abbas, such as the number of members in the National Security Council, the appointment of an interior minister chosen by Arafat and the splitting up of the security apparatus, which Abbas wants to unite.

Missing no chance to fish in troubled waters, Israel was quick to say it will not accept Arafat or one of his partisans taking control of the Palestinian Authority.

"Israel will not accept a situation in which the control of the Palestinian Authority would fall back into Yasser Arafat's hands or one of his partisans'," said a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office.