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Wednesday, December 15, 2010     FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

CIA backing Palestinian intel agencies despite Obama policy on interrogations

RAMALLAH — Palestinian sources said the CIA has been overseeing the financing and development of two PA intelligence agencies.

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The sources identified the agencies as the Preventive Security Apparatus and the General Intelligence Service.

"CIA and State Department representatives make sure that these agencies are equipped and their commanders are kept happy," a Palestinian source said.

The source said the U.S. intelligence community has maintained its close ties with GIS and PSA despite a policy by President Barack Obama to stop abusive interrogations.


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Both agencies have been determined to be leading violators of human rights, with several Palestinian detainees dying in their custody. Up to 1,000 Hamas operatives have been jailed by the two agencies this year, Middle East Newsline reported.

"GIS and PSA brief the U.S. intelligence community on a steady basis regarding developments within Hamas, the Gaza Strip and even the circle around [PA Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas," the source said. "The CIA sees these two agencies as its extension in the Palestinian sphere."

Western diplomats confirmed CIA support of the two PA security agencies. They said CIA representatives have penetrated both security agencies and coopted their leadership through large payoffs.

The diplomats and Palestinian sources said the CIA role was not conducted in cooperation with U.S. security coordinator Lt. Gen. Michael Moeller. They said Moeller's predecessor, Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, regarded the CIA role as potentially embarrassing to the PA.

Under Dayton, who left office in August, both GIS and PSA refused to participate in U.S. security programs. During his five-year tenure, Dayton succeeded in recruiting only the National Security Forces for a four-month training course in Jordan. Some intelligence officers took part in a Dayton-sponsored course in Ramallah in 2009.

The PA has confirmed the CIA link to Palestinian security agencies. But senior officials denied that the CIA controlled the security forces.

"There is a connection, but there is no supervision by the Americans," Interior Minister Said Abu Ali said. "It is solely a Palestinian affair. But the Americans help us."



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