WASHINGTON Ñ Bush administration plans to train and equip a new Palestinian security force
could involve Palestinian security forces responsible for suicide
bombings against Israeli civilians.
Members of Congress have been briefed by U.S. officials on CIA plans to
resume training of Palestinian Authority security agencies. That training
was halted by the September 2000 Palestinian insurgency war against Israel.
U.S. officials have acknowledged that the Bush administration is
prepared to finance a new effort to train and equip PA forces. The administration has linked such aid to a restructuring of the 12
agencies into several larger groups, Middle East Newsline reported.
One official said figures as high as
$70 million has been offered to the PA.
"The United States would clearly be part of that external supervision,
others might as well," a senior administration official said. "But it's for
training, it's for financing, it's to help restructure the system so that
it's more accountable."
On Thursday, two PA security chiefs Ñ Brig. Gen. Ghazi Jabali and PA
Preventive Security Apparatus director Col. Jibril Rajoub Ñ agreed to an
Arafat order to resign. Rajoub agreed to become the military governor of the
West Bank region of Jenin. Rajoub is regarded as the most pro-American
security chief in the PA.
Rep. Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat, raised the issue last week
during a hearing by the House International Relations subcommittee on the
Middle East. Wexler asked Assistant Secretary of State William Burns how the
administration could ensure that Palestinian terrorists are not trained by
the United States.
"How are we judging which individuals we are training?" Wexler asked.
"And it's my understanding that some of the same individuals that were
either killed or captured by the Israelis as a part of Al Aqsa or terrorist
groups, that they also had joint membership with the intelligence or
security forces that in the past had been trained by America. And I'm
curious as to what precautions or safety mechanisms we may employ so that
that may not happen again?"
Last week, U.S. President George Bush warned the Palestinians that
he would shut off all U.S. aid unless they implement reforms. Bush again
called for a replacement of the Palestinian leadership.
Congressional staffers said Washington could resume security aid to the
PA without approval of the House or Senate. They said such aid would be
directed through the CIA.
The only ones who would be aware of such aid, the staffers said, would
be members of the House or Senate committees that deal with intelligence.
The committees usually meet in closed session.
