Last update - 00:00 14/10/2007
Islamic Movement leader urges fellow Ra'am-Ta'al MK to quit Knesset
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent
The ongoing feud within the leadership of the southern chapter of the Islamic Movement reached a new height Sunday night when the head of the movement and chair of the Ra'am Ta'al party, Sheikh Ibrahim Tzarzur, submitted in writing a request for MK Sheikh Abbas Zachur to tender his resignation from the Knesset.
The request was reportedly in keeping with an agreement signed with the Islamic Movement wherein two representatives of its southern branch would serve on the Ra'am-Ta'al list on a rotating basis.
Zachur, number four on the Ra'am-Ta'al list, has stated that agreed upon deal was that he would resign in August 2008, vacating the number 4 spot for Salman Abu-Ahmed, currently serving as number five. He also maintains that he has offered, as a gesture of goodwill, to vacate the post in May 2008.
Zachur also told Nazareth-based news site "Ah-Shams" that he was "shocked" by the request, adding that he was especially bothered that it came during celebrations for Eid al-Fitar, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
There has been great tension between Zachur and Tzarzur in recent months and have both criticized each other regularly in the Arab press.
Tzarzur has continually claimed that Zachur was denying the existence of the written agreement, while Zachur is maintaining that he did sign a document, but one dictating that he would resign in August 2008.