Caretaker Palestinian PM standing by resignation

Palestinian Authority (PA) caretaker Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Tuesday denied media speculation that he has changed his mind about resigning from the role. The academic reiterated his desire to leave office once his preliminary three-month period comes to an end. The clarification came after some Palestinian media outlets reported that during a recent meeting, Palestinian President Mahmoud rejected Hamdallah's resignation once again, and tried to convince him to continue as the West Bank government's premier. Soon after Hamdallah's rebuttal, the government issued a statement in which it provided further details of the meeting, and urged the media to avoid spreading rumours. "The ?president discussed the latest political and economic developments in the region, and the efforts exerted by the ?government. We urge all media outlets to be careful in reporting the news, and to avoid spreading rumours," the statement read. Hamdallah quit as PM in June, three weeks after accepting the challenge to succeed Salam Fayyad. Although the reason behind his resignation was not made public, political observers cited a power struggle between the academic and his two deputies, Muhammad Mustafa and Ziad Abu Amr?.