RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia retracted his resignation today, ending a two-week standoff with Yasser Arafat that raised profound questions about the Palestinian leader's ability to rein in dissident elements of his ruling Fatah movement.

Qureia resigned earlier this month in frustration at Arafat's refusal to let him restructure the security forces and deal with growing unrest in the Palestinian areas. But Arafat refused to let him step down.

Arafat's almost absolute control over the Palestinian Authority has been a source of frustration for the United States and other countries hoping to promote reform among the Palestinian leadership.

Hassan Abu Libdeh, general secretary of the Cabinet, said Arafat and Qureia had agreed to grant more power to officials overseeing the security forces.

However, speaking to reporters, Qureia denied that.

"I'm not going to bargain with the president about authority over the security branches," Qureia said. "We have enough powers over them as it stands."

The two men emerged from a closed-door meeting, kissing each other on the cheeks and clasping and holding up their hands together.

"The president refused my resignation, and I will comply," Qureia said. "This is a new step toward reform and imposing the rule of law. There will be actions on the ground."

SEOUL, South Korea - About 200 North Korean defectors, the largest group ever to reach South Korea, arrived in the capital today, to be followed soon by an even larger group, according to a news report.A trickle of defectors to the South has grown into a steady stream in recent years as more North Koreans flee hunger and repression in their communist country, mostly fleeing across its long border with China before heading to other countries.Analysts said it was too soon to say whether today's group heralds the start of a mass exodus. Previously, defecting North Koreans have arrived in the South in small groups of three or four, or a dozen."I think it is difficult to interpret the latest event as a possible beginning of mass defection," said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert in Seoul. Koh said North Korea probably would try to crack down harder on its citizens seeking to flee.The defectors arrived from an unidentified Asian country on a plane chartered by the South Korean government, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said. South Korean government officials declined to confirm the report.Yonhap said the 200 North Koreans were among 460 defectors that South Korea is trying to bring in from a Southeast Asian country. The second group was expected to arrive Wednesday.More than 60 percent of the 460 defectors are women and children, and most of them had illegally entered the Southeast Asian country via China, Yonhap said.