As Arafat lies comatose in a Paris hospital, Abbas has been heading up meetings of his Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and his dominant Fatah faction while Qorei has been in charge of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Both men have been part of the Palestinian leadership for decades and their experienced hands at the tiller should smoothe the passage in the wake of Arafat.

Under the terms of the PA's basic law, or mini-constitution, Arafat should be replaced by parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh but his will be no more than an honourary position.

"There is nobody than can truly replace Arafat but we have legitimate institutions in place to avert trouble," said a Gaza-based Fatah official.

"Abu Mazen will take over as the head of the PLO while Abu Alaa (Ahmed Qorei) will stay on as a prime minister until elections can be held," said Sufian Abu Zeida.

Abbas currently serves as the PLO's general secretary and has long been the United States' candidate of choice with the current Palestinian leadership for his moderate positions and condemnation of armed struggle.

He fell out with Arafat during his brief tenure last year as prime minister but made sure he retained his key roles in the PLO and Fatah after his resignation in September 2003.