Arafat seeks to contain authority of his security chief

RAMALLAH -- Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has launched a quiet effort to curb the authority of security chief Jibril Rajoub, Palestinian sources said on Thursday.

The sources, who include those close to Arafat and his Fatah movement, said Arafat has appointed Col. Bashir Nafea as head of special forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The position grants him a senior role among Palestinian security chiefs.

Nafea is a resident of the Jerusalem-area Kalandia refugee camp and a leading activist in Fatah. He is described as being close to Col. Tawfiq Tarawi, head of PA General Intelligence and a leading rival of Rajoub.

The sources said Arafat has been convinced that Rajoub's Preventive Security Apparatus is the most heavy-handed PA security organization. Fatah activists said Rajoub's group sees itself as being above the law and has intimdated judges who had sought to restrain the agency.

Rajoub aroused Arafat's ire when the security chief ignored several orders by the PA chairman, the sources said. The sources said Rajoub appears to have counted on his strong ties with the CIA and the Israeli General Intelligence Service to maintain power.

The sources said Nafea's appointment will give him several responsibilities. In addition to curbing Rajoub's power, Nafea will also be authorized to control Fatah activists in the Ramallah and Jerusalem areas. The sources said Fatah activists around these cities have several times openly challenged PA rule.

Fatah activists in Ramallah as well as in the refugee camps of Al Amari and Kalandia camps have arsenals of weapons. Many of them have used these weapons in clashes with PA security organizations, including against PA military intelligence headed by Arafat's nephew, Mussa. Last month, hundreds of Fatah activists demonstrated when PA military intelligence arrested a Fatah member and dealer in stolen cars.

The sources said PA security agencies were unsuccessful in several attempts to take control of Fatah in the Ramallah area. In one attempt, agents tried to arrest Abu Ali Mittour commander of the Fatah military wing.

Nafea, the sources said, has summoned Fatah dissidents and urged them to join his agency. The sources said the request has sparked interest within Fatah in the Ramallah area.

The Fatah defiance of the PA has led to a threat by Arafat to fire West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, the sources said. Arafat also threatened to withhold Fatah's budget in the wake of last month's clashes with PA military intelligence.

Rajoub's aides said they were not concerned by Nafea's appointment. Sources in the Preventive Security Apparatus said the fate of Nafea's agency will be the same as that of other security organizations shut down by Rajoub earlier this year.

Many of the members of those groups, such as the Fatah military wing, were transferred to Force 17, Arafat's praetorian guard while the leaders were sent to work in Arafat's office.