Abbas has been criticized by Fatah's young guard as aloof and more
interested in foreign travel than visiting cities in the West Bank. Since
his election as chairman in 2005, Abbas has never visited Hebron, Jenin,
Kalkilya and Tulkarm.
"We have very complicated problems that he couldn't handle, the split,
the corruption, the occupation," Hani Al Masri, a strategic adviser to the
late PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, said.
Officials said the PA security effort has been helped by Britain and the
United States. They said the two NATO countries have urged that PA police
play a lead role in controlling the protests.
The European Union has trained 1,000 PA civilian police officers for
anti-crime and anti-riot missions. The training included the use of
non-lethal measures to control demonstrations.
The police were expected to be joined by the National Security Force in
any confrontation with Hamas. The United States has trained more than 1,200
NSF officers in a facility near the Jordanian capital of Amman.
The Presidential Guard, however, has been regarded as the most effective
of the PA security forces in anti-riot operations. PG units repeatedly
charged pro-Hamas demonstrations in the West Bank in January 2009.
Officials said Hamas has sought to coordinate anti-Abbas protests with
other political movements, including dissidents in the ruling Fatah
movement. They said Hamas was not expected to abandon its effort even with
the formation of a unity government with Fatah.
"Hamas would use any unity government to penetrate the PA, particularly
the security forces," the PA official said.
