Aug. 12, 2004 20:21Dahlan: Fatah gangs get money and armsBy...

Aug. 12, 2004 20:21
Dahlan: Fatah gangs get money and arms
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

In response to reports that the European Union had allocated E1.35 million to Palestinians whose homes were destroyed by the IDF in Rafah, scores of Fatah gunmen on Thursday occupied the offices of the Palestinian Authority's Rafah Governor, demanding that the PA compensate the families immediately.

Eyewitnesses said the gunmen, belonging to the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, cordoned off the governor's headquarters before storming it and ordering the employees to leave. They said the gunmen evacuated the building a few hours later, after senior PA officials promised to help all the families whose houses were destroyed.

Izzat Abu Al-Khair, director of the governor's office, said he reached a settlement with the group after PA Chairman Yasser Arafat authorized him to negotiate. The protesters then left the building and the staff returned, he told The Associated Press.

Under the deal, the PA agreed to provide clothes and kitchen utensils to the displaced persons and to repair damaged homes or rent housing for those whose homes were destroyed, Abu Al-Khair said.

The incident at the headquarters of the Rafah Governor follows a series of attacks on PA institutions and government offices in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the past few weeks. All the attacks were carried out by different militias affiliated with Fatah.

Former PA security minister Mohammed Dahlan on Thursday revealed that at least two of the Fatah militias, the Jenin Martyrs Brigades and the Abu Rish Brigades, were financed and armed by the PA leadership. In addition to their responsibility for the chaos in the Gaza Strip, the two groups have also been involved in attacks on the IDF and settlers.

Dahlan told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that PA Chairman Yasser Arafat was aware of the fact that these groups were receiving money and weapons from the PA.

The Jenin Martyrs Brigades was responsible for the kidnapping of ousted PA police chief Ghazi Jabali, while the Abu Rish Brigades was behind the abduction of four French aid workers in the Gaza Strip. Both kidnappings took place last month.

Denying that his men were behind the abductions, Dahlan said: "The Jenin Martyrs Brigades, whose members kidnapped Jabali, is financed and armed by the PA. The group's members are PA employees. As for the Abu Rish Brigades, they too are financed and armed by the PA because they are members of the National Security Forces. Arafat knows who is financing them."

Dahlan, who has been accused by some of Arafat's top aides of instigating the recent uprising against the PA leadership, is expected to return to the Gaza Strip on Friday from Cairo, where he has been staying for the past two weeks. On Sunday, he is scheduled to meet with Arafat in Ramallah for the first time since the outbreak of internal fighting.

Some PA officials said they did not rule out the possibility that Arafat would offer Dahlan a ministerial portfolio or a security position. However, Dahlan has made it clear that he is not interested in serving in the current PA cabinet.

In the interview, Dahlan sought to reassure Arafat that he had no plans to undermine him or replace him. "President Arafat does not have to be afraid of me," he said. "He should be worried about some of the hypocrites around him. I have no ambitions to replace President Arafat, but this will not stop me from demanding reforms."

Dahlan accused veteran members of the Fatah Central Committee of stealing large sums of money, but stopped short of referring to them by name. "I don't want to mention their names, because the courts will reveal their identities," he explained. "There are people in the Fatah Central Council who are costing the Palestinians tens of thousands of dollars. Arafat knows who they are and they know themselves."

He said many of the Fatah leaders have taken advantage of Arafat's confinement to his headquarters in Ramallah over the past three years. "They want Arafat to remain under siege," he said. "They keep frightening him by telling him that he should be on the alert for 'the big conspiracy' against him. They are also spreading rumors that the anti-corruption campaign is backed by Israel."