Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie agreed on Tuesday to stay in office for the moment, three days after resigning over President Yasser Arafat's inaction on widespread demands for reforms, officials said on Tuesday.

A senior official close to Arafat said Qurie had withdrawn his resignation at a crisis cabinet meeting in Arafat's office. But others at the meeting said Qurie had agreed only to run a caretaker government, signaling he would not remain for long.