New pro-U.S. Palestinian police chief is son of anti-Arafat dissident
RAMALLAH — The new security chief of the Palestinian Authority is the
son of a longtime opponent of the late Yasser Arafat.
Maj. Gen. Hazem Atallah has taken over the PA police in the West Bank, Middle East Newsline reported.
The 49-year-old is the son of Abu Zaim, or Atallah Atallah, who led a
Jordanian-backed reform movement against Arafat in the 1980s.
"He's a Western-oriented man who gets along very well with the United
States," a Palestinian security source said.
Since his appointment in 2007, Atallah has imposed a controversial
early-retirement plan on the 25,000-member police force. Security sources
said about 90 percent of veteran officers have agreed to leave the force.
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The sources said the younger Atallah, born in the West Bank village of
Beit Sourik, has risen rapidly in the PA. In 2007, he was appointed military
secretary by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. After six months in the job, Atallah
rose from the rank of colonel to brigadier general and then major general.
Along the way, he served in the Gaza Strip as well as in the West Bank.
Atallah, now director-general of the police, was said to have been
raised in Jordan and educated in Portugal. The sources said Abbas has given
Atallah wide powers regarding manpower, operations and relations with other
agencies.
In his new post, Atallah has sought to expand contact between police
and civilians. He has urged police commanders to form relations with the
community.
"Atallah reports only to Abu Mazen [Abbas]," the source said. "Nobody
else can tell him what to do and no other agency can get involved in police
business."
