The Michigan Dlv ~,- Thuirsday , ntpmher A4.C9(Yl- 5 W ORLD -- i ulauaI J'.ai.AJ "+, .yt Arafat and Abbas in apparent political showdown ? - : N RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Pales- tinian officials struggled to ease tension between Yasser Arafat and his prime minis- ter, Mahmoud Abbas, while Israel and the United States cautioned against any move to oust Abbas. The prime minister was set to address parlia- ment Thursday to sum up his first 100 days in office, a period marked by somewhat reduced violence but also disappointment over a lack of movement in implementing the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan. Saying the legislature shouldn't be dragged into the power struggle between Abbas and Arafat, parliament speaker Ahmad Qureia on Wednesday temporarily blocked a confidence vote that Abbas had sought to call following his address. Abbas was reluctantly appointed by Arafat as the Palestinians' first prime min- ister in April under pressure from Israel and the United States, which have accused Arafat of blocking peace efforts. i But the prime minister could be toppled if a vote is held in the coming days, dealing a heavy blow to efforts to end three years of violence and move toward Palestinian state- hood. The prime minister has minimal sup- port among Palestinians, many of whom say they distrust him because he has Israel's backing. But legislators said a confidence vote is not expected for at least another week dur- ing which time they will try to help end the wrangling between Arafat and Abbas over authority, particularly control of the securi- ty forces. Secretary of State Colin Powell, meanwhile, said in Washington that Arafat - whom the U.S. and Israel have sought to isolate - "has not been playing a helpful role." "If he wanted to play a helpful role he would be supporting Prime Minister Abbas, not frustrating his efforts," Powell said. Israel has warned of dire consequences should Abbas be ousted, saying it will not do business with a government hand-picked by Arafat. Several Palestinian legislators said they were told by local U.S. diplomats that if Abbas is ousted, Washington might lower its profile as Mideast mediator. Abbas has told a senior Palestinian offi- cial he wants Thursday's debate to be fol- lowed by a confidence vote, but he has not made a formal request and has declined public comment. Winning parliament's support would help Abbas in his confrontation with Arafat, who is accused by Israel of fomenting terrorism. Defeat would allow him to step down without being blamed for the consequences, such as the possi- ble collapse of the road map. The continued deadlock indicates each man needs the other. The international sup- port enjoyed by Abbas helps shield Arafat from possible Israeli action, like expulsion. Abbas, in turn, needs Arafat to provide legitimacy for his government among Palestinians. "They depend on each other, kind of like an old couple that can't stand each other, but can't live apart," Israeli analyst Mark Heller said/ Qureia said a confidence vote in parlia- ment is not needed for now because Abbas already won the legislators' confidence when his appointment was affirmed in April. However, parliament will hold another session next Wednesday, and if Arafat and Abbas have not reached a power-sharing agreement by then, a confidence vote might be held, legislators said. The power struggle has intensified in recent weeks. Abbas demands that Arafat relinquish control of four security branches; Abbas commands the other four security services. Arafat has balked, fearing he would lose his main source of power. Israel and the United States want Abbas to crack down on Hamas and other militant groups, as required by the road map. Israel's Cabinet decided earlier this week to freeze implementation of the road map until Abbas orders a clampdown. Ahead of the parliament session, Israel sent strong warnings to the Palestinians. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Israel won't negotiate with an Arafat-controlled government, and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned on Tuesday that Israel may have to expel Arafat soon if he keeps getting in the way of peace efforts. Mofaz spoke several days after Israeli security officials again reviewed a possible expulsion and came to the conclusion that it would do more harm than good. For nearly two years, Israeli troops and threats have kept Arafat marooned inside his West Bank headquarters, which has been heavily damaged by tank shells and bulldozers. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Powell "has made clear that Arafat is part of the problem at this point and is not helping to bring a solution." Still, Boucher said Israel had informed the U.S. government there was no plan to expel Arafat and "our view was that was the right decision." European support for U.S. continues downward slide BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - After the Iraq war, support for U.S. global leadership has faded badly in European nations, most dramatical- ly in Germany and France which strenuously opposed the war, according to a survey released Thursday. President Bush's standing has just about evaporated in Germany where his approval rating is 16 percent - down from 36 percent in 2002 - and where public opinion increas- ingly questions American leader- ship, said the Trans-Atlantic Trends 2003 survey. "The Germany that never sought to choose between Europe and the United States has now expressed an unambiguous preference for Europe," it said. The war has made the trans- Atlantic disconnect so significant that large chunks of public opinion in France (70 percent), Germany and Italy (both 50 percent), Portu- gal (44 percent) now see U.S lead- ership as undesirable, the poll showed. "The trans-Atlantic split over the war in Iraq has-underminedAmeri- cans' standing with Europeans," it added. The survey of the German Mar- shall Fund of the United States and the Compagnia di Sao Paolo, a Turin foundation devoted to devel- oping interest in international affairs in Italy was held in mid- June, two months after U.S. troops ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hus- sein. Washington went to war bypass- ing the United Nations, whose sup- port it failed to win due to European opposition. The Trans-Atlantic Trends 2003 survey found broad support on both sides of the Atlantic to strengthen the United Nations. However, 36 percent of Americans - and only 16 percent of Europeans - say it is all right to bypass the organization to defend vital national interests, the survey found. It said that hard on the heels of the Iraq war, Bush's foreign policies polled only a 30 percent approval rating across Europe, down from 38 percent in 2002. In Britain and the Netherlands he fares better than in 2002: 35 percent of Britons approve of his foreign policies (up from 30 percent last year) and 31-prtent of the Dutch" (up from 28 percent), the survey found. However, Bush's dismal 16 per- cent approval in Germany almost matches the tally in France (15 per- cent, against 21 percent in 2002). The American president polled a 40-percent support level in Italy (down from 57 percent), 58 percent in Poland (down from 62 percent) and 41 percent in Portugal which was not polled in 2002, according to the survey. In concert with Bush's fading stature, 81 percent of Germans - up from 55 percent in 2002 -now say the European Union as more important to their vital interests than America, which kept West Ger- many safe from the Soviet Union during four Cold War decades. Only 9 percent see the United States as key to safeguarding their country's vital interests. "The German result is definitely one of the most interesting," said Abigail Golden-Vazquez, communi- cations director of the German Mar- shall Fund of the United States in Washington. The survey consisted of tele- phone interviews with 1,000 people each in Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal and the United States and face-to-face interviews in Poland. It has a 3- point margin of error. AP PHOTO German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder led his Social Democratic Party to victory this year opposing a war in Iraq. Though relations between himself and President Bush have warmed recently, the U.S. president suffers dismal approval numbers in Germany. At least four killed in bomb blasts on Russian commuter trains ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia (AP) - Two bomb blasts rocked a rush- hour commuter train carrying col- lege students in southern Russia on Wednesday, killing at least four people and wounding dozens. The bombs were planted on the tracks linking Kislovodsk to Miner- alnye Vody in the Caucasus region. There were about 50 people in the third car of the six-car train, which was directly hit by one blast, Rail- way Ministry spokesman Konstantin Pashkov said. Survivors reported many of the passengers were college students. Many Russian universities began their fall semesters this week. There were varying reports on the casualty toll. Dmitry Oiferenko, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin's envoy to southern Russia, said five people were killed, while Russian Railways Minister Gennady Fadeyev said in televised comments that six died. However, Regional Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Igor Mikhailov said four were killed and 33 were wounded in the explosions as the train was approaching a sta- tion in Podkumok, a town on the outskirts of Kislovodsk, 870 miles south of Moscow. Mikhailov said 21 of the injured remained hospitalized, eight of them in serious condition. NTV television reported that the dead were an 18-year-old woman, two 21-year-old men and a 15-year- old boy. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts. Viktor Kazantsev, President Vladimir Putin's envoy to southern Russia, told state television that police had arrested a man suspected of detonating the bombs. Police said the suspect was injured in the explosion and was hospitalized in serious condition. Russia has been hit recently by numerous bombings and other attacks, which the government usually blames on rebels from Chechnya. An officer at the headquarters of the Caucasus Military District, which oversees Chechnya, said on condition of anonymity that the mil- itary had received intelligence information that the rebels wer( preparing a series of attacks ii southern Russia. Wednesday's explosions occurre' just as Putin was scheduled to chai: a meeting of regional governors i Rostov-on-Don, about 280 mile; northwest of the site of the bomb. ings. Putin spoke with Stavropo governor Alexander Chernogoro about the blasts, news agencie: reported. *North Korean govt. affirms tough stance on arms-control talks SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's parlia- ment re-elected Kim Jong Il as the isolated country's top leader on Wednesday, and approved his govern- ment's decision to "keep and increase its nuclear deter- rent force" to counter what it calls a hostile U.S. policy. As Kim watched from a raised platform, the Supreme People's Assembly - a rubber-stamp body for govern- ment policy - adopted a statement that also backed the Foreign Ministry's announcement last week that North Korea no longer had "interest or expectations" 9 for future talks on its nuclear program, according to the North's official news agency KCNA. KCNA also reported that the parliament "decided to take relevant measures." The news agency did not elab- orate. North Korea's envoy to the six-nation talks in Beijing on the North's nuclear crisis last week warned that the reclusive state might test a nuclear device to prove itself a nuclear power, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. Representatives from the United States, the two Koreas, Japan, China and Russia met last week in Bei- jing to discuss ways to end the nuclear crisis. After the meeting, China, North Korea's only remaining major ally, released a statement saying all six countries agreed to continue to talk. A day after the three-day Beijing meeting ended on Friday, however, Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry angrily dismissed the need for more talks and vowed to "keep and strengthen its nuclear deterrent force as a just self- defensive means to repel the U.S. pre-emptive nuclear attacks," the parliament said. The North's newly elected parliament, which con- vened Wednesday, supported the government's deci- sion. Meanwhile, cars mounted with loudspeakers went around North Korea announcing that the parliament re- elected leader Kim Jong Il as chairman of the National Defense Commission, which oversees the country's 1.1 million armed forces - the world's fifth largest mili- tary. By constitution, Kim's post is the highest in gov- ernment hierarchy. Streets were decorated with flags and flowers, brass bands struck up tunes, and school children sang songs praising Kim. Kim, who rules the impoverished country of 22 mil- lion people with a personality cult inherited from his late father, believes that the survival of his regime depends on how profitably he plays his nuclear card, experts say. U.S. President Bush labels Kim's regime part of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and Iran. The parliament also appointed Park Bong Ju, its min- ister of chemical industries, to replace Hong Sung Nam as premier. Park's appointment was seen as reflecting Pyongyang's efforts to revive its economy. During the Beijing talks, North Korea said the Unit- ed States must sign a nonaggression treaty, open diplo- matic ties and provide economic aid before it can feel safe enough to dismantle its nuclear program. The United States insisted that North Korea first scrap its nuclear program before Washington can consider pro- viding security guarantees and help for its moribund economy. The Beijing talks "offered the DPRK an opportunity to confirm that the Bush administration still intends to disarm the DPRK and use the multilateral talks for lay- ing an international siege to the DPRK to isolate and stifle the DPRK," the parliamentary decision said. On Wednesday in Seoul, Chinese parliamentary leader Wu Bangguo discussed the nuclear standoff with South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun. "China supports a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and a peaceful resolution. But the North's concerns must also be addressed," Wu said at a reception hosted by Chinese Ambassador Li Bin. On Monday, China's chief delegate to the negotia- tions had said that Washington's policy toward North Korea was one of the main obstacles in the talks. "American's policy toward DPRK; this is a main prob- lem we are facing," Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in the Philippines. Despite the North's threat to boycott future meetings, other participants said the six parties reached a tenta- tive agreement to meet again around October. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been high since October, when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted running a nuclear program in violation of international agreements.