The Palestinian parliament delayed approval on Monday of President Mahmoud Abbas's cabinet following a stormy debate in parliament that signalled widespread dissent at the new line-up. Lawmakers, even from the dominant Fatah movement that backed the nominations earlier in the day, complained the new cabinet contained few new faces and retained cabinet ministers seen as part of a corrupt old guard under Yasser Arafat. In a clear sign of a rift, Abbas ally Mohammad Dahlan rejected a senior appointment to the new government, a senior official said.

The mainstream Fatah movement, which has two-thirds of parliamentary seats, approved the new cabinet in a turbulent 9-hour session that ended early on Monday, but many of the members expressed misgivings over the line-up.

Copyright Reuters, 2005