Ramallah, in the West Bank, called 'listening post' bristling with foreign spies
Thursday, June 4, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
RAMALLAH Ñ Palestinian security officials in the West Bank are complaining about an increasing intelligence presence from several nations including the United States and Russia.
A former Palestinian Authority intelligence commander said Western and other intelligence agencies have expanded their presence in the West Bank. The former commander said the Palestinians feel the increased foreign monitoring in their daily lives.
"Palestinians are experiencing a harsh situation, and they are tracked by the intelligence services from several countries," [Ret.] Brig. Gen. Tawfiq Tirawi, former commander of PA General Intelligence, said. "This issue should be solved."
On May 25, Tirawi told a security conference in Bethlehem that foreign intelligence agencies must respect Palestinian sovereignty. The former GI commander did not identify the foreign intelligence agencies.
But PA security sources cited the intelligence agencies of Britain, Egypt, France, Israel, Jordan, Russia and the United States as operating in the West Bank. The sources said the foreign intelligence agencies usually base their agents in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"Ramallah is becoming the intelligence listening post of the Levant," a PA security source said. "You see them [foreign intelligence operatives] everywhere."
Tirawi, who resigned from GI in late 2008, said PA security agencies were improving their skills amid Western training and guidance. Still, he said, any reform of the PA security forces must be led by Palestinians themselves.
"There are strong and talented security forces that can lead the Palestinian community and take care of security," Tirawi told the conference by the Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of the Armed Forces.
The conference, organized by the Geneva Center, was aimed to help Palestinians control their own security agencies. The United States and the European Union have been training, equipping and mentoring PA security forces.
The PA has been operating the Palestinian Academy for Security Sciences, established to enhance security technology and methods. On June 1, the academy received a new chairman, Nur Eddin Abu Al Rub, appointed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Tirawi has been the head of the academy's advisory council.
"It will hopefully be capable of carrying out its mission professionally to help Palestinian institutions counter challenges effectively," Al Rub said.