Palestinian mayor of West Bank's largest city resigns

Things are getting interesting over there. From SFGate comes this story: bq. The Palestinian mayor of Nablus has resigned, citing frustrations over rising lawlessness in the West Bank's largest city. bq. Mayor Ghassan Shakaa told The Associated Press he has submitted his resignation to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to protest inaction by Palestinian leaders and security forces to stop the chaos. And more: bq. "I have submitted my resignation to President Arafat because I see my city collapsing and I don't want to stand idly by and watch this collapse," Shakaa said. "My resignation is a warning bell to the Palestinian Authority and the residents of Nablus, because both of them are doing nothing for this city." And in other news, Arafat had a bit of a temper tantrum yesterday. From The Jerusalem Post: bq. Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat stormed out of a meeting of the Fatah revolutionary council Thursday, following a shouting match with security adviser, Nasser Yussef, regarding security reforms, reported IBA news Friday morning. bq. Yussef questioned Palestinian security forces ability to function efficiently without reforms. bq. "You traitor, spy, shut your mouth, you have no right to talk," Arafat was quoted as shouting to Yousef before hurling a microphone at him. And more about the Fatah Revolutionary Council: (Great 1950's Soviet Marxist name by the way - really shows Arafat's origins and training (Fatah means gateway or path)) bq. The 126-member Fatah revolutionary council, Fatah's second highest body, is supposed to meet every three months. Wednesday, it convened for the first time in three years for a three-day meeting in an effort to solve the crisis resulting from the recent resignation of scores of activists. bq. They resigned over what they said is widespread corruption among the old guard and armed street patrols by para-militaries.