Jerusalem: Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurea today (July 17, 2004) submitted his resignation to veteran leader Yasser Arafat, which was not accepted, triggering steps for administrative reforms to quell lawlessness.

Qurea put in his papers for what he called "a chaotic state of affairs" in the Palestinian Authority after a spate of abductions of Palestinian officials and French aid workers allegedly by Arafat's Fatah-affiliated armed groups.

"This is a true disaster," he said outside his office in Ramallah before meeting Arafat.

Arafat refused to accept the resignation, and Palestinian Minister Saeb Erekat asserted that "it does not reflect differences" between the two leaders.

Earlier in the day, Palestinian National Security Council, headed by Arafat, declared a state of emergency in the Gaza Strip after four French aid workers were abducted following two Palestinian officials earlier.

Arafat decided to consolidate his security forces into three branches, meeting with the key international demand for reforms, a senior Arafat aide, Nabil Abu Rudeineh said.

The three branches will be - the national police, public security force and intelligence, Rudeineh said.

The Palestinian Authority chairman also fired Gaza police chief Ghazi al-Jabali, who was abducted yesterday in the Gaza Strip and later freed, and named two new top officials in the shake up of his security apparatus.