 Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousuf said yesterday that fighters in Gaza have rejected a Palestinian Authority plan to put their weapons in storage during next weekâs parliamentary election as a way to reduce the risk of violence. Interior Minister Yousuf said a proposal had been made for factions in Gaza to collect their own weapons just before the ballot and put them into a storage area to which they would have one key and the Palestinian Authority another. âBut they rejected the proposal,â Yousuf told reporters. Khader Habib, an Islamic Jihad leader, confirmed the proposal was rejected, but denied that the groupâs weapons contributed to Gazaâs âchaos and anarchyâ or threatened security during the elections.
 | "No, no! Certainly not! What would we have to do with violence?" |
Yousuf said the Palestinian Authority had offered police protection to faction leaders in Gaza in the hope that they would leave their armed bodyguards at home on election day. But that too was rejected. Habib said the armed factions âknow better how to protect their leaders.â In a warning to fighters, Yousuf said security forces had âclear instructions to confront any attempt to use arms during the election period.â He was speaking after talks with UN special envoy for the Middle East peace process, Alvaro de Soto. |