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Middle East | |
Arafat outmaneuvers Abbas on Roadmap | |
2003-05-05 | |
EFL - any surprise here? Arafat's a survivor - unfortunately for the Paleos and the Israelis Five different Palestinian Authority security organizations, including Force 17 and the General Intelligence, remain under the direct command of Chairman Yasser Arafat - and this can be seen as the first substantial breach of one of the important security clauses of the U.S. road map for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A complaint along these lines has been relayed to the Americans and the matter is now a central talking point between Israeli officials and U.S. representatives. The road map explicitly stipulates that Palestinian security organizations will be combined into three services that report to the PA interior minister. The reorganization following the appointment of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) as PA prime minister have produced a very different arrangement. The PA security organization's seven separate mechanisms have not been reduced to three. The Interior Ministry where Mohammed Dahlan is minister for state affairs has authority over just two security organizations - the counter-intelligence apparatus and the uniformed police. Arafat remains in charge of five different security organizations - General Intelligence, the National Security Forces, Force 17, Military Intelligence and the naval forces. What do the naval forces do? Oh yeah, I remember, the Karine A To place his five organizations under something of a new and separate command, Arafat has set up a new body, the National Security Council, in which the PA chairman's close associate and former PA interior minister Hani al-Hassan has a central role. Clearly this is a false reorganization that is designed to leave things as they were and allow Arafat to retain separate and independent military powers, far from the watchful eye of Abu Mazen. A number of the organizations under Arafat - Force 17, for example - have been directly involved in acts of terrorism. As far as Israel is concerned, these organizations have been terror groups for all intents and purposes, and many of Israel's reprisals have been directed against them. The redistribution will weigh heavy on Israel's security cooperation with Abu Mazen's government.
Yasser's just shuffling the deck chairs on the Lusitania | |
Posted by:Frank G |