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| Israel-Palestine |
| Slain Palestinian Militant Had Stood Up |
| 2004-06-27 |
| RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - When Israel killed its most wanted man in the West Bank, it may also have removed a headache for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Unfortunately, Arafat’s own migraines have not yet been removed in a similar fashion. As the most senior commander for the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in its West Bank heartland, Nayef Abu Sharkh had led a drive to unify the disparate bands of the armed faction within Arafat’s Fatah movement. My finest contribution to the catalog of classic oxymorons; "Arab unity." But he was also at the vanguard of calls for Arafat to clean up corruption, jettison a generation of politicians seen as discredited by many young Palestinians and to hold elections. In your dreams. "Abu Sharkh had threatened Arafat that if the Brigades’ demands for democratization were not met, the armed groups which form the bulk of the younger generation would leave Fatah or carry out elections in defiance of the old guard," a senior Fatah official said. Abu Sharkh, 38, was killed at his hideout in Nablus on Saturday with five other militants. He had been in the job for two months. Didn’t even have time to change his underwear. The Israeli army said Abu Sharkh was behind a suicide bombing that killed 23 people in Tel Aviv early in 2003 and numerous other attacks. Not any more. "He activated terror against Israeli civilians, Israeli defense forces and also local Palestinian residents," it said. Abu Sharkh’s death was undoubtedly a severe blow to the al-Aqsa Brigades, one of the main groups carrying out suicide bombings on Israelis since being formed near the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000. But despite the official expressions of fury from Palestinian leaders, Abu Sharkh’s death might not be unwelcome for some top Fatah members. Arafat sometimes appeared embarrassed at bloody al-Aqsa attacks on civilians, similar to those carried out by Islamist militant factions, while he denied Israeli and U.S. accusations of fomenting violence.  Yasser hates being outdone. But Abu Sharkh’s recent threats of mutiny if Arafat did not radically reform Fatah had put the veteran guerrilla leader in a particularly difficult spot with his local powerbase too. "We know all the strings are in his (Arafat’s) hand and we hope he will make the necessary changes," Abu Sharkh told Reuters recently. While the traditional calls rang out for "earthquake-like revenge" after the killing of a top militant, the only thing certain about Abu Sharkh’s successor was that he would be far less visible. It’s the new and improved Hamas-style "stealth successor!" A senior al-Aqsa official said Abu Sharkh’s former deputy had been chosen to replace him "but this time we will not announce the name of our leader, in order to protect him." Lotta good your discretionary measures do. Just get him in front of the cameras so his photo can be circulated, thank you. |
| Posted by:Zenster |