Wednesday after he called elections for Jan. 20, in a move that avoided a showdown over a confidence vote the Palestinian leader risked losing.

　　The cabinet's resignation was the dramatic outcome of two days of stormy debate in the reform-minded Palestinian Legislative Council during which lawmakers from Arafat's Fatah faction said they would vote against his reshuffled cabinet.

　　After consulting Arafat, the cabinet ministers agreed to resign, sidestepping a confidence vote that Arafat was in danger of losing or passing by an embarrassingly slim majority.

　　Arafat will instead appoint a new cabinet in two weeks to run an interim government until January's legislative and presidential elections. Officials said the interim cabinet would not require a confidence vote by the Palestinian Legislative Council.

　　Lawmakers who accused Arafat of not doing enough to overhaul the government claimed victory in the duel over the composition of the Palestinian leader's cabinet which was reshuffled in June when Arafat appointed five new cabinet ministers.

　　"Our aim was to topple the government, and the government now is toppled," said Jamal al-Shobaki, one of the Fatah lawmakers who had said they would vote against the government.

　　Outside parliament, cracks also emerged in Fatah over the release of a draft document, drawn up with European Union assistance, calling for an end to attacks on Israeli civilians. A top official said it had been leaked before being finalized.

　　Before accepting the cabinet's resignation, Arafat issued a decree setting Jan. 20 as the date for promised elections in an announcement that followed intense international and domestic pressure on him to reform his government.

　　But this did not succeed at soothing his angry lawmakers enough to obtain their support for his new cabinet ministers.

　　One of them was Interior Minister Abdel Razzak al-Yahya, who is also in charge of the security forces. He recently issued a controversial call to all Palestinian factions to halt attacks against Israel.

　　Arafat, widely expected to be re-elected in the January vote, has faced criticism in parliament for the June reshuffle, which many lawmakers felt did not address their demands for reforms to end corruption and decentralize power.

　　Some politicians had been pressing for the appointment of a prime minister to take over the day-to-day running of the Palestinian Authority.