Gunbattle erupts among Palestinians in Rafah Arafat under pressure as Qureia quits; thousands march in Gaza GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A gunbattle erupted on Sunday between Palestinian militants and forces loyal to Gaza’s new security commander Moussa Arafat in a new flare-up of violence among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Witnesses said gunmen from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades opened fire at a military intelligence headquarters in the southern Gaza town of Rafah during a march protesting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s appointment of his cousin to the position of Gaza’s security chief. Palestinian police in the building fired back and the two sides engaged in heavy fighting for several minutes, witnesses said. They said the gunmen, many of whom were masked, then surrounded the building and shouted through loudspeakers for all the policemen inside to come out. The gunmen also threatened to burn down the building, the witnesses said. Earlier on Sunday, Palestinian militants attacked a security post in Gaza, stepping up pressure on Yasser Arafat to stamp out corruption in a crisis deepened by the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. A growing chorus Arafat has not faced such a chorus of local and international demands for change in nearly four years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thousands marched in Gaza against Moussa Arafat's appointment, an expression of outrage against an old guard widely seen as corrupt. At a meeting on Sunday of the Palestinian National Security Council, Arafat told Qureia he "strongly rejects" his decision to quit, cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said. Calls for reform have multiplied amid a brewing factional power struggle in the Gaza Strip in anticipation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal of troops and settlers from the occupied territory by the end of 2005. Sharon said Palestinian infighting showed he was right to take unilateral action rather than negotiate with Arafat's government. "What is happening in the Palestinian Authority proves that all the contrived efforts to show that there is someone to talk to on the Palestinian side are motivated by personal interests and are unrealistic," an official quoted Sharon as telling his cabinet. Attack in Khan Younis In the town of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, gunmen attacked and burned down a post manned by members of a security service already controlled by Moussa Arafat, sending officers fleeing into the night. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group within Arafat's Fatah faction, said it destroyed the facility. "Moussa Arafat's appointment will not pass, and he must submit his resignation," the brigades said in a statement. At a news conference after the attack, Moussa Arafat said he had no intention of stepping down. In a new blow to the Palestinian leader's prestige, the commander of the Palestinian coast guard, Juma Ghali, tendered his resignation. Security sources said Ghali was protesting against Moussa Arafat's appointment and instability in Gaza. The coast guard — officially known as the Palestinian Navy — is a major branch of the security forces. Although it has no ships, its members man posts in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. 'Unprecedented chaos' Submitting his resignation, Qureia complained about "unprecedented chaos" in Gaza triggered by the brief abduction on Friday of four French aid workers, the police chief and another official by gunmen demanding reforms. "Things have changed in the last two days. There are no more sacred cows. People are simply fed up," Sufian Abu Zaideh, a Palestinian deputy minister, told Israeli Army Radio. Arafat ordered a security shake-up in Gaza, merging 12 competing armed forces into three. After Arafat rejected his resignation, Qureia suggested his decision was on hold at least until a Palestinian Authority cabinet meeting on Monday. Warning to Yasser Arafat In the past, Arafat has paid little more than lip-service to reforms likely to diminish his influence. A warning to Arafat from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades added to fears that violence could spiral. It urged Arafat to try officials accused of corruption and said trouble could spread to the West Bank, home to 2.3 million Palestinians as well as Arafat and most of his Authority's institutions. Some 1.3 million Palestinians live in Gaza. To those it branded corrupt, the Brigades said: "We will punish you if you don't repent and return the stolen money back to the people." Palestinian officials say Arafat's ability to carry out reforms or rein in militants has been hampered by constant Israeli raids. Israel and the United States accuse Arafat of fomenting violence, which he denies. Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5434896/ I haven't seen this reported on any other major news website.
kiss my cyber ass. Why don't you contribute something for a change instead of only criticizing others? All you are good for is taking pot shots at other posters or posting pics that are specifically photoshopped for message board use. Like this one:
Well, if the thread did not have to be moved to the D&D before - now it should be! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
And just so that you can understand...I think the reasoning why news like these should be in the D&D is that even though "it's news", news related to controversial political topics such as Israel/Palestine often lead to heated debates, which are supposed to take place in the D&D, not the regular Hangout. My rolleyes was at your apparent failure to understand this after you have been here long enough to get the idea. There's the requested contribution.
Foreshadowing over a week ago............ <a HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35426-2004Jul7.html">Militants Make Unprecedented Push To Gain a Voice in Palestinian Affairs</a> <hr color=red> <a HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57247-2004Jul17.html">Arafat Rejects Palestinian PM Resignation</a> <i> The Associated Press Saturday, July 17, 2004; 7:35 AM RAMALLAH, West Bank - Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia submitted his resignation Saturday to Yasser Arafat, plunging the Palestinian government into crisis, but Arafat rejected it, a top official said. The resignation came as Qureia and Arafat discussed a shake-up of security forces during a rapidly deteriorating security situation in the Gaza Strip. Six people, including the national police chief and four French charity workers, were briefly kidnapped in Gaza a day earlier. Saeb Erakat, a Palestinian Cabinet minister, said Qureia told members of the legislative council that he submitted his resignation to Arafat, but that the Palestinian leader refused to accept it. Qureia's resignation followed the announcement that Arafat was replacing his national security chief and his national police chief, in addition to consolidating the Palestinian Authority's disparate security forces into three services - a key international demand for reform. Qureia, also known as Abu Ala, was appointed in September 2003, when the first prime minister of the Palestinian government, Mahmoud Abbas, quit after just four months on the job. Arafat's rejection of Qureia's resignation left his status uncertain, and it was unclear whether Qureia would continue to lead the government. The prime minister, one of the main negotiators of the 1993 Oslo peace agreement with Israel that created the Palestinian Authority, proved incapable of asserting his authority over the official security services or over the militant groups which led attacks against Israel in the Palestinian territories and in Israel itself. Unlike his predecessor, Qureia never met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon or other top Israeli cabinet officials. Early Saturday, Arafat's National Security Council declared a state of emergency and sent troops to protect government buildings and officials from militant factions. There have been several shake-ups of the Palestinian security services since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting nearly four years ago, but none lived up to the international community's expectations for reform. However, the latest realignment appeared to be more sweeping than any previous attempt. The Palestinian government declared an emergency after Police Chief Ghazi Jabali and another senior security officer were seized by militants Friday and later released. Four French charity workers also were abducted and held for several hours, as militants made an apparent show of force before the announced withdrawal of Israeli forces and thousands of settlers from the Gaza Strip. "This is a true disaster," Qureia said Saturday outside his offices before meeting Arafat. "This is a level of chaos that we have never seen before." Egypt and the quartet of international peacemakers - the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union - have been pressing Arafat to bring rival security factions under unified control. More than a dozen security branches now operate in the areas, often fighting each other. An Egyptian plan specifically called for the streamlining of the services into three branches in Gaza and the West Bank. Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh said the security forces would be the national police, public security forces and intelligence. Mousa Arafat, who has been with his first cousin since the early days of the Palestinian national struggle in 1965, replaced Abdel Razzak Al-Majaideh as national security chief. Al-Majaideh was considered ineffectual. The Palestinian leader also appointed Saeb al-Ajez as the new police chief for the West Bank and Gaza, replacing Jabali who has been widely accused of corruption. The chief of intelligence was not immediately named. </i> <hr color=red> <a HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/17/international/middleeast/17mide.html">Rash of Kidnappings in Gaza Challenges the Authority of the Palestinian Government</a> <i>By GREG MYRE Published: July 17, 2004 JERUSALEM, Saturday, July 17 - Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip staged three kidnappings on Friday, seizing four French aid workers and two Palestinian security officials, including the police chief of Gaza, Palestinians said. By early Saturday, the French captives - two women and two men - were released, but one Palestinian security official was still being held, Palestinian officials said. The rash of abductions reflected the rampant lawlessness and the internal Palestinian feuding in the Gaza Strip and was seen as a challenge to the authority of Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader. The Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, called an emergency cabinet meeting for Saturday, fueling speculation that his government might resign or be forced out because of the latest crisis. The Palestinian Authority declared a state of emergency on Saturday to cope with the widening crisis, The Associated Press reported. The declaration called for increased protection around Palestinian government facilities and canceled all leave for security officials. Two Palestinian security chiefs in Gaza submitted their resignations on Friday, citing the deterioration of law and order, but it was not immediately clear whether Mr. Arafat would accept their decisions to quit. The French aid workers were seized Friday night while drinking coffee at a restaurant in the southern town of Khan Yunis. Responsibility for their abduction was claimed by the Abu al-Rish Brigades, a small faction loosely linked to Mr. Arafat's Fatah movement, according to Palestinian security officials. The kidnappers took their hostages to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society offices in the town and released the two women after about three hours, and freed the two men shortly afterward, the French Foreign Ministry told Agence France-Presse. The kidnappers appear to be demanding positions in the Palestinian security forces, the security officials said. In a separate incident, the Abu al-Rish kidnappers seized a Palestinian security official, Khaled Abu Alula, also in Khan Yunis. He remained in captivity as of early Saturday. Abu Qusai, the leader of the hostage takers, said the peaceful end to the four-hour drama had occurred because of intervention by Mr. Arafat, according to United Nations officials and French diplomats. "We have resolved the issue internally," Mr. Abu Qusai told Reuters by phone, but declined to elaborate. The French Consulate in Jerusalem said the four were well. On Friday afternoon, gunmen seized Gaza's police chief, Ghazi al-Jabali, after firing on his three-car convoy as it traveled on a coastal road, south of Gaza City, Palestinian security officials said. Two of Mr. Jabali's bodyguards were injured, the officials added. The abductors took Mr. Jabali to the nearby Bureij refugee camp, where he was held for about three hours while other Palestinian security officials negotiated with the kidnappers. The gunmen were from the Jenin Martyrs Brigades, a little-known group that is an offshoot of a larger faction, the Popular Resistance Committees, the officials said. The Martyrs Brigades did not issue any public demands while holding Mr. Jabali, though the kidnappers accused him of corruption and called for him to be put on trial, the security officials said. Mr. Jabali was released and taken to police headquarters, but no arrests were announced, even though the Palestinian security officials said they knew who was responsible. Internecine quarrels among Palestinians have been on the rise in Gaza despite the plan by Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to evacuate Israeli settlers and soldiers from the territory by the end of next year. In particular, Mr. Jabali's kidnapping demonstrated the lack of government authority in Gaza. Mr. Jabali is seen as a close ally of Mr. Arafat, who places great importance on maintaining control over the security forces. To protest the lawlessness, the head of preventive security in Gaza, Rashid Abu Shabak, and the intelligence chief, Amin al-Hindi, both resigned on Friday night, security officials said. But the resignations were not announced publicly, and in the past Palestinian officials have quit during moments of high tension, only to be persuaded by Mr. Arafat or his aides to resume their positions several days later. Mr. Arafat used to spend much of his time in Gaza, but Israel has kept him confined to his West Bank compound in Ramallah for more than two years. Other senior Palestinian politicians visit Gaza only rarely. The Palestinian security chiefs in Gaza, including Mr. Jabali, are among the few symbols of civil authority there. Feuds among rival branches of the Palestinian security forces have a long history in Gaza, and Mr. Jabali was the target of violence at least two times earlier this year. In New York on Tuesday, the United Nations Middle East envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, said the Palestinian Authority "is in deep distress and is in real danger of collapse." He said Mr. Arafat lacked the political will to carry out promised reforms, which would include revamping the security services. Those remarks drew sharp criticism from the Palestinians. A senior aide to Mr. Arafat, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said Mr. Roed-Larsen was no longer welcome in the Palestinian areas. Some Palestinian officials have since distanced themselves from that remark. But Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the militant group linked to Mr. Arafat's Fatah movement, said in a statement on Thursday that Mr. Roed-Larsen no longer had "permission" to meet Palestinian leaders. Mr. Sharon reiterated his intention to pull out of Gaza despite opposition from his traditional right-wing supporters in Israel. "We must not ignore the demographics," Mr. Sharon said in speech delivered Thursday night to graduates of the National Security College. "It is impossible to maintain a Jewish and democratic country here, over the years, while ruling over millions of Palestinians" in the West Bank and Gaza. Mr. Sharon has also made clear that in withdrawing the 7,500 Jewish settlers in Gaza, he seeks to strengthen Israel's hold on the West Bank settlements, where about 230,000 settlers live.</i> <hr color=red> Covers a few of the points mentioned in the <i>NY Times</i> story. <a HREF="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/452193.html"> Larsen's statements spark war of words between PLO, UN</a> <i> NEW YORK - The PLO observer in the UN, Nasser al-Kidwa, distributed an internal document Tuesday that included an unbridled attack on Terje Larsen, UN special envoy to the Middle East. The attack came after a briefing on Tuesday to the Security Council, which is to meet today to discuss the International Court's recommendation on the separation fence, in which Larsen accused Yasser Arafat of causing the failure of attempts by Egypt and the international community to implement reforms in the Palestinian Authority security establishment. On hearing that Arafat had declared Larsen unwelcome in the PA, U.S. ambassador to the UN John Danforth telephoned the Security Council, asking, "What does it mean? That the UN designated person dealing with the Middle East and representative with respect to the Quartet is persona non grata?" The deputy head of Israel's UN mission, Arieh Mekel, told Haaretz, "Al-Kidwa is used to the UN automatically taking the Palestinian position and it's difficult for him to accept balanced statements such as those included in Larsen's briefing."</i>
Forgot to include this link. <a HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/international/middleeast/16pale.html?pagewanted=1">Isolated and Angry, Gaza Battles Itself, Too</a>
