Arafat approves plan to overhaul Fatah

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has endorsed a plan to overhaul the Fatah movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials in Ramallah disclosed Thursday.

They said the changes are aimed at reorganizing Fatah and replacing many of its veteran operatives.

The move is seen by some officials as an attempt by Arafat to tighten his grip on Fatah and flush out activists who appear to have shifted their loyalty to PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his Minister of State for Security, Muhammed Dahlan.

According to one official, Arafat has allocated $1.5 million for the plan. He said former Minister of Interior Hani al-Hassan, who is a senior Fatah leader, has been entrusted with the mission of overseeing the changes.

Earlier this week, Arafat named Hassan as "general commissioner" of Fatah in the West Bank and asked him to cancel a number of bodies belonging to the movement, especially the Higher Committee Movement, which consists of representatives representing the young generation in Fatah. Some of these activists are among the harshest critics of Arafat and the PA leadership.

Hassan is expected to name two deputies one in the West Bank and another in the Gaza Strip. Many of the local Fatah leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip may be replaced, a move that is likely to spark a crisis among inside the movement.

The planned face-lift in Fatah comes amid a severe crisis that erupted following Abbas's decision to resign from the movement's key decision-making body, the Fatah central council. Many members of the council are strongly opposed to Abbas's negotiations tactics with Israel, accusing him of accepting dictates from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and US President George W. Bush.

The Fatah officials, including Arafat, are also concerned at the growing power of Dahlan and insist on clipping his wings. "Dahlan is behaving as if he's the king," said one official. "The fact that he's on Bush's payroll doesn't give him the right to sideline the legitimate leadership of the Palestinian people."

On Wednesday night, another influential Fatah body, the revolutionary council, held an emergency meeting in Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah to discuss the repercussions of Abbas's resignation from the movement's central council. The late-night meeting was chaired by Arafat, who briefed the attendants on the latest developments regarding the latest crisis in Fatah and talks with Israel. Arafat also informed the members of the revolutionary council of his decision to introduce major changes in the movement's leadership and structure, said one of the participants.

A statement issued at the end of the meeting said the revolutionary council rejected Abbas's resignation from the Fatah central council and urged him to rescind his decision. It also reaffirmed the movement's commitment to implementing the road map plan and lauded Palestinians factions that announced a unilateral suspension of terror attacks.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak phoned Arafat Wednesday night to urge him to resolve the crisis with Abbas, Palestinian sources said.

They said Mubarak has decided to dispatch Gen. Omar Sulieman, chief of Egyptian intelligence, to the Gaza Strip in an attempt to patch up differences between Abbas and Fatah. The visit is also intended to consolidate the cease-fire by persuading Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah to agree to an extension of the truce.

Three months ago, Gen. Sulieman stepped in to resolve another dispute between Arafat and his prime minister over the makeup of Abbas's cabinet.

Two senior Egyptian intelligence officials are already holding talks in the Gaza Strip with PA officials and representatives of Palestinian factions, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The last two groups have refused to join the cease-fire, but at the same time have pledged to stop terror attacks against Israel.

Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, said the Egyptians asked his movement and other factions to extend the cease-fire declaration by an additional three months. "The also urged as not to be dragged by Israel's ongoing provocations and breaches of the hudna (temporary truce),"he added.

Haniyeh said Hamas remained committed to the truce, but has yet to decide on whether it would agree to an extension of the three-month cease-fire. He said Israel's refusal to release all the prisoners could lead to the breakdown of the cease-fire.

The Egyptian security officials met in Gaza City Thursday with commanders of the PA security establishment to discuss the developments on the ground in the aftermath of the cease-fire declaration. The meeting was attended by Gen Abdel Razak al- Majaydeh, Gen. Musa Arafat, Col. Rashid Abu Shabak and other senior security officials in the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian security source said the Egyptian mediators promised that Cairo would put pressure on Israel and the US to secure the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners in order to save the cease-fire from collapsing. Dahlan, who participated in the meeting, later urged Israel to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners and withdraw from more areas in the West bank and Gaza Strip. He said such a move was "vital" to bolster the truce. Dahlan said he would raise the issue in a meeting on Thursday night with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. "We are calling for the release of all Palestinian prisoners and especially those prisoners who spent long years in prisons, including the ill and the elderly," Dahlan told reporters in Gaza City.

It is a coincidence that terrorist Arafat was able to spend $1.5M coming a day after the US sent the PLO terrorist organization $20M?

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4 posted on 07/10/2003 12:32:19 PM PDT by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)

a coincidence that terrorist Arafat was able to spend $1.5M coming a day after the US sent the PLO terrorist organization $20M?

Nah, that cannot be, we sent him 20 Million to make roads, and fix schools, not to give 1.5 million bucks to a terrorist organisation.

Since Bush said those who support terrorists are our enemies, do we now have to shoot ourselves?

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