RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Authority is seeking help from Jordan in order to maintain order in the West Bank.
PA officials said Interior Minister Nasser Yusef has urged Jordan to
allow the transfer of the Badr Brigade from the Hashemite kingdom to the
West Bank. About 2,000 Jordanian fighters would be inducted into the Palestinian security services under the arrangement, Middle East Newsline reported.
The officials said the Jordanian-trained brigade would be
deployed to impose order in the West Bank.
The PA appears to have lost control over several cities in the West
Bank, including Jenin and Nablus. Nablus was said to be ruled by Fatah gangs
in cooperation with rogue PA officers.
"We can't rely on the PA security services in ending the chaos because
they are part of it," Hamas spokesman Mohammed Ghazal said.
Fatah gangs, often backed by PA officers, have attacked rivals as well
as PA officials in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Several people, including
security officers, were killed over the last week.
Over the weekend, Yusef was said to have met Jordanian security
officials in Amman. The two sides were said to have discussed the logistics
of the transfer of the Badr Brigade, part of the Palestine Liberation Army,
to the West Bank. Jordan has also been training PA forces in the West Bank
city of Jericho.
Officials said the PA has not yet obtained approval from Israel for the
entry of the Badr force. They said Yusef has argued that the PA lacks a
well-trained and disciplined force that could end Fatah and other insurgency
attacks in the West Bank.
Officials said Fatah plans to convene its first Central Committee
meeting since the death of Yasser Arafat in November 2004. They said PA
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah chief Farouk Khaddoumy were expected to
attend the summit.
