Jul. 16, 2004 22:14 | Updated Jul. 17, 2004 22:26 Palestinians protest appointment of Arafat's cousin as security chief By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in Gaza City on Saturday night to protest against the decision to name Musa Arafat commander of the PA national security forces.
The demonstrators called for getting rid of all the corrupt officials in the PA.
The Aksa Martyrs Brigades also issued a statement in which they strongly condemend the appointment of Musa Arafat and described him as one of the prominent symbols of corruption.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat appointed his cousin, Major-General Musa Arafat, as commander of the PA National Security Forces in the Gaza Strip on Saturday in light of a deteriorating state of chaos and lawlessness.
Arafat on Saturday rejected the resignation of his prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, and announced a series of security measures to prevent a further deterioration.
Qurei's decision to resign followed a spate of kidnappings in the Gaza Strip on Friday. The victims included the controversial commander of the PA Civil Police, Ghazi Jabali, the commander of the PA's Military Coordination Division in the southern Gaza Strip, Khaled Abu Al-Ula, and four French charity workers who were abducted in Khan Yunis.
They were all released unharmed after negotiations between the kidnappers and senior PA officials.
A grim-looking Qurei told reporters in Ramallah that the kidnappings were a "true and unprecedented disaster." He then met with members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and told them about his decision to quit.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Arafat's spokesman, announced that the PA chairman had turned down the resignation. "We have full confidence in Abu Ala (Qurei) and his cabinet and President Arafat will not accept the resignation," he said.
But some PA ministers said Qurei was determined to quit if Arafat did not accept his demand for major security reforms by Monday.
Qurei was the third top official to submit his resignation to Arafat in the past 48 hours. On Friday night, Arafat also rejected the resignations of General Intelligence Chief Amin Hindi and Preventative Security Chief Rashid Abu Shabak.
The two security commanders cited the growing anarchy and lawlessness in the Gaza Strip as the main reason behind their decision to resign.
Arafat announced a state of emergency in the Gaza Strip to cope with the rising violence. The declaration called for increased protection around PA institutions and facilities and canceled all leave for security officers. Arafat also announced that the PA security forces would be merged into three organizations – General Intelligence, National Security, and Civil Police.
Nevertheless, Arafat made it clear that these security forces would report to the PA's National Security Council, which he heads.
Jabali, who has been accused of embezzling millions of dollars and sexually harassing women, was replaced with Major-General Saeb Ajez, commander of the PA National Security Forces in the northern Gaza Strip.
The leader of the Fatah gang who kidnapped Jabali condemned Arafat's decision to give his cousin a security role.
"With all due respect to President Arafat, the Palestinian Authority cannot continue to be monopolized by (Arafat) and his relatives," said Abu Iyad, the leader of Fatah's Jenin Martyrs Brigades. "We have our own ways to show our opposition to this move."
The drama in the Gaza Strip started around midday Friday when dozens of Fatah gunmen abducted Jabali after ambushing his vehicle south of Gaza City.
Two of Jabali's bodyguards were moderately wounded in the attack. The gunmen took the 63-year-old Jabali to the nearby Al-Bureij refugee camp, where they questioned him about his involvement in the theft of public funds and sexual abuse of women.
The kidnappers then paraded Jabali in the streets of the camp, forcing him to admit publicly to raping a number of women and stealing more than $20 million. (.......must admit....great legal system they have over ther......Snooker)
Jabali was released two hours later following negotiations between the kidnappers and senior PA officials, including Abu Shabak and Fatah leader Ahmed Hils, who arrived in the refugee camp to help end the standoff.
The kidnappers said they agreed to release Jabali after Arafat promised to dismiss him and put him on trial. They warned that if Arafat failed to make good his promise, they would publish a recorded confession of Jabali.
"We gave three years to the Palestinian Authority to carry out reforms. We waited a long time. But they didn't do anything. We are doing this in our way," one of the kidnappers said on Al-Jazeera satellite TV.
"Ghazi Jabali was kidnapped to hold him accountable for his mistakes against our people."
He warned that the abduction of Jabali was the first in a series of steps by his group against corrupt PA officials.
Jabali, a longtime associate of Arafat, was appointed commander of the 12,000-strong blue-uniformed police force when the PA was established in 1994. Since then, his name has been linked to numerous cases of corruption, including sexual attacks on women.
Last year, former PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas fired Jabali from his job. However, Arafat reinstated the police chief after the collapse of the Abbas cabinet.
In February, a group of Palestinian security officers raided Jabali's office in Gaza City and opened fire indiscriminately, killing one of his bodyguards and wounding 10 others. Before escaping, the assailants jammed Jabali's head down his office toilet in a scene reminiscent of mafia films.
Sources in the Gaza Strip said then that the attackers were aligned with former PA security chief Mohammed Dahlan. They added that Jabali was targeted because he had branded Dahlan a CIA agent.
Two months ago, Jabali was once again targeted, this time when a bomb exploded outside his home shortly after he had left in the morning.
Shortly after Jabali's release, the director of the PA's Military Coordination Division in the southern Gaza Strip, Col. Khaled Abu Al-Ula, was seized from his car while returning to Gaza City from Khan Yunis.
PA security sources said the kidnappers were disgruntled policemen who had been fired from their jobs. The colonel was released unharmed on Saturday morning.
On Friday night, masked Fatah gunmen kidnapped four French citizens drinking coffee at a cafe in Khan Yunis and held them at the offices of the Red Crescent Society. Hours later, the four - two men and two women - were released unharmed. *hmmmm....maybe the Palestinians are thinking of getting into the "beheading" business???.....Snooker)
The gunmen announced that they decided to kidnap the French citizens to protest against United Nations Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen's criticism of Arafat last week and the failure of the PA to compensate Palestinians whose homes were destroyed by the IDF in Khan Yunis.
"The situation on the ground is deteriorating in an unprecedented manner," former PA minister Nabil Amer told The Jerusalem Post. "President Arafat is in charge of everything and therefore he is responsible for ending this crisis."
Amer expressed doubts that Qurei's cabinet would be able to put an end to the chaos. "I suspect that the cabinet would be able to take effective measures in one or two days in light of these horrible deterioration," he added. "They did not take measures when the situation was appropriate for such moves."
