RAMALLAH Ñ A leading Palestinian security official has again
submitted his resignation in protest of the failure to implement reforms in
the Palestinian Authority.
PA officials said National Security Adviser Mohammed Dahlan handed his
resignation to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat. The officials said the letter
cited Arafat's failure to implement promised reforms.
Arafat informed the Fatah Central Committee of Dahlan's letter. Arafat
has not accepted Dahlan's resignation, officials said.
In July, Dahlan was transferred from his position as chief of the
Preventive Security Apparatus in the Gaza Strip. Dahlan was appointed
Arafat's national security adviser and was responsible for security contacts
with the United States.
In his letter, Dahlan was quoted as saying that he does not hold an
official position in the PA. He termed the position of national security
adviser as fictional.
Palestinian sources said Dahlan plans to run in proposed elections in
January. They said Dahlan has been recruiting his supporters in the Gaza
Strip for an election race meant to place him in a leadership position.
Palestinian legislators have called for the dismissal of eight ministers
from Arafat's Cabinet. Virtually all of them came with Arafat from Tunis in
1994 and include such pro-Western figures as International Cooperation
Minister Nabil Shaath. Arafat is expected to announce a new Cabinet by the
end of the week.
Dahlan's resignation comes as Hamas and the PA failed to reach an
agreement to end the current showdown over the assassination of a senior
police official. Hamas has refused PA demands to surrender those suspected
of killing the official last week.
Shaath said the talks could continue in an unnamed Gulf Arab country if
the killers of the PA officer are handed over. At least 20 Hamas members
were believed involved in the assassination of Col. Rajah Abu Lahye.
Over the weekend, Hamas sources said gunmen from the ruling Fatah
movement torched a mosque in Gaza City operated by the Islamic movement. The
sources said prayer books and furniture were destroyed.
In a related development, an Israeli court has approved a request for a
lien on PA assets by the family of a reserve soldier killed by PA police in
October 2000. The request was for a lien of 64 million shekels [$13 million]
on PA assets already frozen by Israel.
Israel has withheld about 2 billion shekels [$405 million] in tax
revenues reserved for the PA amid the insurgency war with the Palestinians.
The Jerusalem court decision will maintain the lien until the suit by the
family of the late Israeli reservist Vadim Novesche against the PA is
decided.
