Ahmed Qureia
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Ahmed Qureia, also known as Abu Ala, is among the senior leaders in the Palestinian Authority and was a close associate of the late Yasser Arafat.
Qureia hails from a wealthy Jerusalem-area family. He was born in 1937, in the town of Abu Dis, just outside of the capital, when Palestine was under British control
Qureia embarked on a banking career in the 1960s, but gave it up to join Arafat's Fatah Movement in 1968. He was put in charge of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s economic activities in Lebanon during the 1970s.
He rose through the ranks despite lacking a PLO power base, and in 1983 he was appointed head of the Economic Department of the PLO’s Executive Committee.
Qureia is considered a moderate, despite some hard-line statements made in the past, and was among the Palestinian leaders who secretly met with Israeli representatives in the early 1990s en route to finalizing the Oslo accords.
He was also involved in later peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in Camp David and in Taba.
Qureia has served as speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council since 1996. Yasser Arafat named him prime minister following the resignation of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) in 2003. Qureia remained in the post after the Palestinians elected Abbas as new PA Chairman in January 2005.
Qureia is married with five children.
