Ahmed Qorei Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research

Here is a look at the life of Ahmed Qorei, former prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority.

Personal

Birth date: March 1937

Birth place: Abu Dis, West Bank

Birth name: Ahmed Ali Mohammed Qorei

Other Facts

His last name can be spelled Qurei, Qureia, Qrei, Qurai or Korei.

It is pronounced (koh-RYE).

Also known as Abu Ala.

Timeline

1968 – Qorei leaves a career in banking to join the Fatah movement.

1983 – Named head of the economic department for the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

1993 – Qorei is a key negotiator at secret peace talks between Israel and the PLO in Oslo, Norway.

January 3, 1994 – Qorei is awarded the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, for his part in the Oslo Peace Accords.

1994 – Qorei returns from exile to the Palestinian territories.

July 5, 1994 – Qorei is named economy minister of the first Palestinian cabinet.

September 19, 1994 – Qorei resigns as economy minister during a feud with Yasser Arafat, but later resumes his duties.

September 1995 – During a negotiating session with Israeli leaders, Qorei becomes ill and is hospitalized overnight.

January 20, 1996 – The Palestinian Legislative Council is established, with Qorei as the speaker.

March 7, 1998 – Qorei is reelected speaker of the Council.

July 1999 – On the invitation of Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg, Qorei visits the Knesset (Israeli parliament), the most senior Palestinian official to do so at the time.

July 2000 – Qorei participates in the Camp David talks, with Arafat, Ehud Barak and US President Bill Clinton.

March 10, 2001 – Qorei is elected to another term as speaker of the Council.

February 24, 2002 – At a roadblock south of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers accidentally fire upon Qorei’s car, but he is uninjured.

June 2002 – Qorei suffers a heart attack and undergoes bypass surgery.

February 2003 – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon holds secret talks with Qorei about the Middle East peace process.

March 2003 – During a Fatah meeting about the new post of prime minister, Qorei collapses and is taken out on a stretcher.

May 12, 2003 – Secretary of State Colin Powell meets with Qorei in Jericho and discusses the peace process.

September 7, 2003 – Qorei is nominated by Arafat to replace Mahmoud Abbas, who was the first prime minister of the Palestinian Authority and resigned on September 6.

September 10, 2003 – Qorei says he accepts the nomination to become prime minister and help bring an end to the escalating violence between Israel and Palestinians.

October 5, 2003 – Arafat declares a state of emergency in the Palestinian territories. This allows him to install a new Palestinian government by decree. He appoints Qorei as prime minister and names eight other people to an emergency cabinet.

October 7, 2003 – Qorei is sworn in as prime minister-designate of Arafat’s emergency cabinet.

November 4, 2003 – Arafat extends the term of his emergency cabinet. Qorei announces he will form a new government within a week.

November 12, 2003 – The Palestinian Legislative Council approves the new 24-minister Cabinet presented by Qorei. Before the vote, Arafat addresses the council, saying he recognizes the state of Israel and its “right to live peacefully” alongside an independent Palestinian state.

July 17, 2004 – Qorei resigns as prime minister; Arafat urges Qorei to stay in his post.

July 19, 2004 – Qorei says his written resignation — filed over the growing chaos and violence in Gaza — still stands.

July 27, 2004 – During a news conference, Qorei announces that he has agreed to withdraw his resignation. Arafat agrees to turn over internal security to Qorei.

November 13, 2004 – Following the death of Arafat, Qorei is named to replace him on the Palestinian National Security Council.

January 26, 2006 – Qorei resigns as prime minister as his party, Fatah, is defeated by Hamas in the parliamentary elections.

May 25, 2006 – His book, “From Oslo to Jerusalem: The Palestinian Story of the Secret Negotiations,” is published.

August 20, 2008 – His book, “Beyond Oslo, the Struggle for Palestine: Inside the Middle East Peace Process from Rabin’s Death to Camp David,” is published.

August 11, 2009 – Qorei loses his seat on Fatah’s Central Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body.

February 28, 2015 – His book, “Peace Negotiations in Palestine: From the Second Intifada to the Roadmap,” is published.

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