milesg - as i was saying

It would appear that Arafat's own gangs have other ideas.

I believe that would lend weight to my comment last night. A new Sadat is required and all the gangs must be reigned in.

Your thoughts would be most welcome.


Fatah group vows to resist any PM Arafat appoints
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

A Palestinian group calling itself the Popular Army of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades on Sunday threatened to foil Yasser Arafat's bid to appoint a prime minister for the Palestinian Authority.

The group, which consists of Fatah militants in the West Bank, also vowed to continue launching terrorist attacks against Israel even after the PA and Israel reach a cease-fire agreement.

Most of the group's members are disgruntled Fatah gunmen who accuse their political leadership of "selling out" on them and striking deals with Israel behind their backs.

"We will resist by force any new Karzai in Palestine," said a statement issued by the group in Nablus, referring to the US-backed Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. "Such a prime minister will be imposed on us by force by the axis of international terrorism."

The statement denied reports in the media according to which the armed wing of Fatah is prepared to honor a cease-fire agreement with Israel.

"The Aksa Martyrs Brigades have pledged to continue the jihad and resistance until the liberation of Palestine," it added. "We don't care about the resumption of the security talks and their results. "The Palestinian people and the Arab street reject these American-British-Zionist conspiracies targeting Iraq with the aim of controlling the entire region."