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Dahlan rejects offer to serve with Hamas in Palestinian post

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, February 26, 2007

GAZA CITY — Fatah security chief Mohammed Dahlan said he has rejected an offer to become deputy prime minister in the Palestinian Authority.

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Dahlan said he turned down an offer to become deputy prime minister responsible for security in the PA. He said the offer to work with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, was relayed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

"I will work in the Fatah movement at the level of the masses and dedicate all my experience to helping the Fatah movement," Dahlan told PA television on Feb. 24.

In late 2006, Abbas appointed Dahlan as chief of all Fatah security forces in the Gaza Strip, Middle East Newsline reported. PA officials said Dahlan has replaced scores of commanders in the Presidential Guards and National Security Forces.

"The Fatah movement has learned a lesson from its defeat in the elections," Dahlan said. "It received a message from the Palestinian people which said that there should be a comprehensive reform process in the movement and the assigning of new leadership."

Dahlan appealed to rival factions to end the militia war in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. He said differences must be resolved through negotiations.

"We have to agree through negotiations and through convening in the prime minister or president's office," Dahlan said. "The national issue is more important than any other issue."

Dahlan portrayed the militia war as a Hamas attempt to destroy the Fatah movement. He said Fatah sought to work with Hamas, but the Islamic movement was not interested.

"We were never enemies of Hamas; we were defending ourselves," Dahlan said. "We both reached the conclusion that none of us can ignore the other party. In Hamas' internal memos and education, they still have the same policy. They don't stress the education of partnership and forgetting the past."

PA officials said forces loyal to Abbas and Dahlan have begun training in Egypt. They said at least two battalions, totaling 800 men, from the PA National Security Forces were completing a four-week course in Egypt. Meanwhile, Clans aligned with Fatah and Hamas continue to clash in the Gaza Strip.

At least five Palestinians were killed and more than 30 were injured in clan battles around Khan Yunis over the weekend. The two families, aided by Fatah and Hamas operatives, fought with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles. The two clans -- Ghalban and Kawara -- also torched homes.

Kawara has been aligned with the Fatah movement, headed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Ghalban has fought with the ruling Hamas movement.

The fighting began when the bullet-ridden body of Mohammad Ghalban, a Hamas militia commander, was found in Khan Yunis. Hamas blamed Fatah for the drive-by shooting, and hours later Hazem Kawara, 22, was killed.

"Mohammed was killed in front of his wife by traitors," a Hamas statement said on Saturday. "The armed men belonged to Kawara family from Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip."

Palestinian sources said the Kawara clan had sought to avenge the death of a family member who worked for the Fatah-aligned police. The Kawara member was killed in a battle with Hamas on Jan. 1.

After the shooting on Saturday, Hamas and Fatah forces sought to abduct rival fighters in Khan Yunis. Sources said several militiamen were kidnapped.

[Hamas-aligned forces also attacked the home of a PA general in the National Security Forces in Zahra south of Gaza City. Two people in the house were injured.]

The clan violence was expected to hamper efforts to form a Fatah-Hamas government. The Interior Ministry's Executive Force, a Hamas agency opposed by Abbas, has been involved in the fighting in Khan Yunis.

"We will abide by any decisions made by the forthcoming government," Executive Force spokesman Islam Shahwan said. "There has been no discussion of the issue [of merging the force with other agencies] and we are already one of the security services ruled by common governance."

Fatah and Hamas have also been battling in the West Bank. In the northern city of Nablus, a general strike was declared to protest militia violence.

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Copyright © 2007 East West Services, Inc.

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