RAMALLAH Ñ Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat faces a
rebellion by hundreds of security officers.
The officers object to Arafat's order to dismiss Col. Jibril Rajoub as
head of the Preventive Security Apparatus. The agency is the most powerful
security force in the West Bank.
Aides of Rajoub, accompanied by senior officers of the Preventive
Security, met Arafat on late Saturday. They told Arafat that his appointee
to head the agency had no experience with the organization or Palestinian
security.
Last week, Arafat switched Rajoub with Zuheir Manasra, military governor
of the Jenin region. Jenin has been the stronghold of Islamic groups that
have launched suicide operations against Israel.
The meeting between the officers and Arafat came after 200 Preventive
Security Apparatus members held a protest to demand Rajoub's reinstatement.
They marched toward Arafat's compound on Saturday until they were turned
away by Israeli troops in the West Bank city.
"With all respect to Manasra, he cannot be a leader of the Preventive
Security," Rajoub told Palestinian Radio on Saturday. "And the way this
decision was taken is also unacceptable."
