The United States is pressuring Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to keep his prime minister in office, a Palestinian source said Thursday.

The US administration has intensified its contacts with the Palestinian leadership to prevent Abbas from approving Salam Fayyad's resignation, said the source, a senior member of Abbas' Fatah party.

Earlier Thursday, the source told Xinhua that Fayyad has submitted his resignation to Abbas, awaiting the latter's decision.

Fayyad decided to quit over a discord with Abbas that arose when he accepted Minister of Finance Nabil Qassis' resignation last month without consulting with the president.

Azzam Al-Ahmad, a member of Fatah Central Committee, said the issue of Fayyad's resignation would be decided after Abbas returns from Jordan. He said that Abbas and Fayyad will meet on a possible return of Qassis to his previous post.

However, the source said that the meeting between the two has been postponed indefinitely.

The crisis reflects a general rejection against Fayyad among the Palestinian leadership.

Fayyad, 61, a former World Bank expert, was nominated by Abbas to form the West-Bank based government after Islamic Hamas movement routed pro-Abbas forces and took over Gaza in 2007.

Fatah has always demanded to retain the main portfolios in Fayyad's government. Qassis, an independent academic, joined the government last year recommended by Fatah, which did not want Fayyad to retain the financial portfolio for himself forever.