Gaza's Gang of Five is emerging as the post-Arafat Palestinian leadership. They are the PA's head of Preventive Security Muhammad Dahlan; NGO Minister Hassan Asfour; negotiator Saeb Erekat; Muhammad Rashid; and Nabil Shaath. They are all from Gaza and they've long represented a particular stream of leadership within the PA. They want a return to the Oslo format of direct negotiations with Israel, an end to the intifada, especially armed attacks, and the restructuring of the PA's security into a single organization headed by Dahlan, supported by the CIA but also by the intelligence agencies of Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. These guys acted as conduits for visits with Powell and Arafat, and Rashid was a key player in the Church of the Nativity stand-off. They have put the West Bank faction of Jibril Rajoub in the shade, and Dahlan's men have even roughed up squads of Rajoub's bully boys.