Security Chief: Palestinians to Disarm Militants

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian security forces intend to disarm militant factions as part of a plan to prevent attacks on Israelis, a senior Palestinian security official said on Tuesday.

Bashir Nafe, commander of Special Forces and tipped as a possible security chief for the West Bank and Gaza, spoke a day after new President Mahmoud Abbas ordered security services to take action to stop violence to help him revive talks with Israel.

"The instructions are clear ... Weapons that don't belong to the Palestinian police are illegal. So wherever illegal weapons are found, we will collect them," Nafe told Reuters.

"There is no leadership in the world that gets elected on a peaceful program and leaves arms in the hands of militias and other groups," he said.

The Special Forces are among at least a dozen, sometimes competing, Palestinian security forces.

Nafe did not say whether security agencies would confront militants, who have continued to strike Israel in defiance of Abbas's calls for calm, refuse to give up their weapons and have warned of possible violence if forces try to prevent attacks.

Abbas, who arrived in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) on Tuesday for talks with militants, wants to end a 4-year-old armed uprising so as to allow the resumption of talks with Israel on Palestinian statehood in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Nafe did not say when confiscation of weapons might start, though other Palestinian officials said security plans would be finalized with Abbas next week.

Militants from Abbas's own Fatah (news - web sites) movement have defied his appeal, as have Islamist groups like Hamas that are sworn to destroying Israel and which boycotted the elections he won on Jan. 9 to succeed the late Yasser Arafat (news - web sites).

"Hamas has no choice but to respect the choice of the Palestinian people, otherwise it will lose support," Nafe said.

Israel cut ties with Abbas following an attack by three militant groups that killed six Israelis last week, but it has signaled that it could hold off a major military offensive in Gaza to give Abbas time to crack down on the militants.

Nafe said Palestinian police had started deploying in several areas, but this had been disrupted by Israeli raids.

A senior Palestinian security official said Abbas told West Bank security chiefs on Saturday if they fail to act immediately on halting all forms of military acts "we will all go down. I want action, not games."

I'd also be inclined to answer "B". OTOH, Hamas staked its future on Gaza; Arafat was unable to travel there for a few years, because Israel didn't want his sorry ass to travel around to meet with his terrorist underlings. It is very possible that there will be a civil war. If Abbas can't establish control over Hamas, it will be finally undeniable to potential international supporters (even Chirac) that the recent elections were meaningless, and the independent paramilitary groups won't and don't answer to the elected authority.

Since Abbas has to have both -- international support and the paramilitary groups -- he will have to establish control.

If he resorts to Arafat's approach, and supports the mass-murder and other terrorist acts, in order to appear to be in charge, he drops international support (other than Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the like).

If he tries to get those groups to stop the killing, he will have to resort to violence, or find some way to co-opt them back into line long enough to seduce international support. I don't however think that, with the Moslem murderers doing their thing in Europe (from Chechnya to the Netherlands, Scandinavia to Spain), it will be an easy sell for him.

Gosh, it's almost as if the PLO is jumping through a hoop, and almost as if the hoop is being held by Israel. ;')

"A" -- no chance.

"C" -- if the co-opting doesn't work, there will be civil war. There can't be a divided movement with separate territories, particularly when one of those territories isn't really held by one of the parties. Abbas needs to have control over Gaza, and that is something he does not have.

The fact for Arafat was, either he was powerless to stop the terror, or he was the driving force behind it; either way he wasn't anyone to negotiate with. That formula applies even moreso to Abbas.

If Abbas fails in his attempt to reestablish control, and Hamas emerges as the viable entity, the elections will be seen as a miserable failure. It won't be the fault of Israel or the US, it will be the fault of Hamas. It will undermine support for Hamas in areas where Hamas is not in control, and will also result in emigration from those areas by those who want an actual future.

If Abbas manages to reestablish control, international "legitimacy" for the "armed struggle" will be on life support (which isn't as good as the grave, but will have to do), which constrains Abbas' for the foreseeable.

If the situation turns into a draw, however, it will be more of the same, other than the loss of future EU support for the PA (which is the PLO).

A good HISTORY TEST
The following multiple choice test. The events are actual cuts from past history. They actually happened!!!

In 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by:
a. Jay Lenno
b. Harry Potter
c. Dick Butkiss, Gale Sayers and Joe Namith
d. Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40

In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by:
a. Olga Corbett
b. Sitting Bull
c. Red Grange
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

2. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by:
a. Lost Norwegians
b. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
c. Vince Lombardi
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

3.During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:
a. John Dillinger
b. The King of Sweden
c. The Boy Scouts
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

4. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
a. A pizza delivery boy
b. Pee Wee Herman
c. Walter Payton and Michael Jordan
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

5. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old
American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair
by:
a. The Smurfs
b. Louie Armstrong
c. Joe Stabler and the Oakland Radiers
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

6.In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver
trying to rescue passengers was murdered by:
a. Captain Kidd
b. Mother Teresa
c. Babe Ruth and Hank Greenberg
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

7.In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
a. Scooby Doo
b. The Tooth Fairy
c. Alan Page and the Joe Montana
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

8. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:
a. Richard Simmons
b. Grandma Moses
c. Lou Gerhig and Ty Cobb
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

9.In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
a. Mr. Rogers
b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill' s women
problems
c. Al Kaline and the 1968 World Champion Detroit Tigers
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

10.On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles
to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one
crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by
the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by:
a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. Mr, Bean
c. Joe Montana and Hank Stram
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

11.In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:
a. Sargent Shultz, Colonel Klink and Major Hochsteter from Hogans Heros.
b. The New York Metropolian Opera house
c. The Chicago Symphony
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

12. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:
a. Bonnie and Clyde
b. Captain Kangaroo
c. Tarzan
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

Nope, .....I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do
you?

So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics
intent on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile certain people. They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret agents who are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winning and former Governor Joe Foss, but leave Muslim Males between the ages 17 and 40 alone because of profiling. We dare not search those who cause terrorism after all we do not want to be seen as racists by the islamic terrorists .

The day the palestinians give up terrorism is the day they want peace -- Thus Peace will not take place in my life -- since the palestianians only want to slaughter everyone.

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