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Dahlan Says Fatah Must Start Reforms, Yassin Rejects U.S. Interference
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Dahlan: “The time has come for elections within Fatah” |
RAMALLAH,
West Bank, May 22 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – A close aide
to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said Tuesday, May 21, that
reforms in the Palestinian territories should begin with elections in
Fatah, Arafat's political movement.
Mohammed
Dahlan, chief of preventative security in the Gaza Strip and a senior
member of Fatah, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the organization
"has led and continues to lead the Palestinian struggle, and any
fundamental change should begin with the movement itself.
"That
change can only come through elections, and the time has come for
elections within Fatah," he added.
The
last elections to the 18-member Fatah central committee were held in
1989. On May 7, Dahlan called on Arafat to carry out reforms within
his Palestinian Authority, which has partial sovereignty over part of
the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This would have included, notably, a
reduction in the number of security services and ministers.
Meanwhile,
in remarks published in the London based Arabic daily newspaper,
Al-Hayat, on Wednesday, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the founder of the
Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, said that the
Palestinians need to resist Israeli occupation rather than enact
reforms tailored to U.S. and Israeli needs.
Sheikh
Yassin, who lives in the Gaza Strip, told Al-Hayat that carrying out
reforms on Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority would be a mistake.
"The
American-tailored reforms are not in the interest of the Palestinians
(...) and are not currently required. Now, we need resistance, and we
need to defend ourselves against Israel," Sheikh Yassin said.
"The
United States want to place the men they back within the Palestinian
Authority to serve their interests and those of Israel," he told
the Saudi-owned daily.
Washington
can "impose its men on the security services by saying to Abu
Ammar (Arafat): Name this one to this position, and that one to
another position."
Sheikh
Yassin said Israel "wants to get rid of people who cooperate with
the resistance within the Palestinian Authority to replace them with
people who agree to guarantee [Israel's] security."
He
added that Hamas had discussed whether to stop or pursue martyrdom
operations and that a decision had been taken "to pursue the
resistance in all its forms, including martyrdom operations."
During
the 19 months of Israeli aggression, the government of hawkish
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has frequently pressured Arafat to
arrest Palestinian resistance fighters, including those from Hamas.
Arafat
on Wednesday met with envoys from the so-called "Quartet" of
the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia
to discuss the reforms he suggested.
Arafat
aide Nabil Abu Rudeina said the group was discussing reforms and
elections promised in Arafat's speech to the Palestinian parliament
last week, as well as ways of tackling the security crisis.
They
were also to discuss international aid for reconstruction of
Palestinian towns damaged in Israel's massive military operation last
month, as well as the expected arrival of CIA director George Tenet.
Abu
Rudeina said the Palestinians had not been informed of when Tenet, who
drafted a ceasefire blueprint a year ago, would arrive. Tenet is
expected to supervise a major overhaul of the sprawling Palestinian
security services.
Israel
has said there can be no talks with the Palestinian Authority until it
carries out fundamental reforms.
Meanwhile,
a Palestinian diplomat denied Monday a newspaper report that the
preventive security chief in the West Bank, Jibril Rajoub, was taking
up residence in Cairo, and said that as far as he knew Rajoub still
had his job.
Mohammed
Sobeih, the Palestinian ambassador to the Arab League, was commenting
on a report in Al-Hayat that Rajoub was being demoted as part of a
Palestinian drive for reform and that he would now live in Cairo.
Sobeih
told AFP that Rajoub on Monday ended three days of talks with Egyptian
officials about the "Middle East crisis," and that he was
heading for another Arab country before he would "go back to the
West Bank."
When
asked about a report in Al-Hayat that he might be moving to Cairo, he
replied: "This is rubbish."
When
asked whether he was still chief of preventive security, Sobeih
replied: "Still, we did not hear anything else officially."
Al-Hayat
newspaper, quoting sources in Abu Dhabi, said Rajoub may reside
"temporarily or permanently" in Egypt, and that he may be
ousted from his position under reforms pledged by Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat.
The
sources added that Rajoub's ousting would mean the victory of Dahlan,
in a power struggle between the two for the leadership of the
Palestinian security services.
Sobeih
said that Rajoub had left for Cairo airport and was traveling to
another Arab country, which he did not identify, before he heads back
to the West Bank via Jordan.
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