Special to WorldTribune.com

RAMALLAH — Syria has been accused of using its proxies to attack the
Palestinian Authority.

The ruling Fatah movement asserted that a Syrian-sponsored militia
planned to kill PA leaders, particularly chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Fatah said
the main Syrian proxy was the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine-General Command, led by Syrian Army Capt. Ahmed Jibril.

“Ahmed Jibril is a hired agent,” Fatah said on March 31. “He is
operating on instructions from his handlers in the region who seek to eliminate President Abbas.”

This marked the first Fatah accusation of a Syrian-sponsored plot
against Abbas or the PA leadership since the Sunni revolt in March 2011. Fatah has refused Syrian demands to support the regime of President Bashar Assad, including recruiting Palestinians to fight the Sunni rebels.

Jibril has been assigned to recruit Palestinian support for Assad. In mid-2011, PFLP-GC mobilized hundreds of Palestinians to march toward the Israeli border of the Golan Heights, in which more than a dozen people were killed.

The casualties sparked a backlash against the Palestinian militia
including the torching of PFLP-GC headquarters in Syria. Later, Jibril
agents were said to have killed 14 Palestinians, including several Fatah
officers, in the Yarmouk refugee camp outside Damascus.

In March 2012, PFLP-GC, financed by Iran, failed to recruit a
significant number of Palestinian marchers toward Israel in an effort
sponsored by Hamas and Hizbullah. Jibril blamed the PA for
refusing to cooperate.

“Ahmed Jibril is a merchant of Palestinian and Arab blood,” Fatah said.
“He is desperately trying to appease outside parties in an attempt to
destroy the political achievements of our people and their wise leadership.”

  Bashar Assad, Fatah: Syria plotting to assassinate Palestinian leader Abbas, Golan Heights, Mahmoud Abbas, Sunni rebels, Syrian Army Capt. Ahmed Jibril, Yarmouk refugee camp