GAZA CITY ø The Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip has been rocked by an
unprecedented level of unrest initiated by the ruling Fatah movement.
The PA has declared a state of emergency in the Gaza Strip after a spate
of abductions, including that of the PA police chief, a security official
and five French nationals. At the same time, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and
at least two senior security officials have submitted their resignations to
protest corruption and their lack of authority.
The abductions began on July 16 when Fatah insurgents ambushed
a three-car convoy that contained Brig. Gen. Ghazi Jabali south of Gaza
City, Middle East Newsline reported. Two of Jabali's bodyguards were shot and the police chief was taken to
the Palestinian refugee camp of Bureij, where he was paraded along the main
street.
Hours later, Jabali was released as a result of the intervention of PA
Chairman Yasser Arafat. Jabali, accused of corruption and torture, had been
the target of several attacks by Fatah insurgents over the last six months.
"We gave the Palestinian Authority three years to implement reforms,"
Abu Iyad, a spokesman for the Fatah-aligned Jenin Martyrs Brigades, told the
A-Jazeera satellite channel. "We waited a long time. But they didn't do
anything. Ghazi Jabali was kidnapped to hold him accountable for his
mistakes against our people."
At the same time, about 20 Fatah insurgents abducted five French human
rights activists in the Palestinian Red Crescent office in the Khan Yunis
refugee camp. The French nationals were said to have been released on
Saturday.
Fatah insurgents also abducted Col. Khaled Abu Aloula, director of
military coordination in the southern Gaza Strip. The abductors, who
released Aloula after several hours, were said to be PA police officers
fired from their jobs.
In an effort to assuage Fatah dissidents, Arafat dismissed Jabali and
replaced him with Gen. Saeb Ajez, head of the Palestinian National Forces in
the northern Gaza Strip. Ajez later said his priorities would be to impose
discipline on security forces and then on the entire Gaza Strip.
Arafat also announced the consolidation of at least 12 security agencies
into
three units. The PA chairman also appointed his nephew, Mussa Arafat, to
head the Palestinian National Forces.
The appointment of Mussa, who would also remain commander of PA Military
Intelligence, sparked a protest by 3,000 Palestinians in Gaza City on
Saturday. The demonstrators said Mussa was as corrupt as the outgoing
Jabali.
"We need people with clean hands," Samir Mashrawi, a former senior PA
commander, said. "We don't need people with a dark past."
The chaos in the Gaza Strip was compounded the resignation of Qurei,
appointed in October 2003. Palestinian sources said Arafat has refused to
accept Qurei's resignation.
Moreover, Preventive Security Apparatus commander Rashid Abu Shback and
General Intelligence chief Amin Hindi also resigned, the sources said. The
sources said Arafat has also rejected their resignations.
