(Maariv-Hebrew; July 4, 2003) - Ben Caspit American emissary John Wolf is diligently building a mechanism for the collection of weapons. It will be called "registration" - for the imposition of law and order. Whoever wants to sell his Kalachnikov is welcome - he will receive a good price. Whoever does not will be invited to PA offices to have his weapon's serial number recorded. At the same time, efforts will be made to recruit the gun owner into the security services. In this way, say the Palestinians, we will dry up the swamps of terror, slowly but surely. Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad has begun paying the salaries of Dahlan's security forces directly to the bank instead of through cash payments. Salaries will be 15% higher since Fayyad has cancelled the intifada tax and improved the dollar-linked exchange rate. Abbas has failed to take control of the Palestinian Broadcasting Authority, which Arafat sees as his "personal weapon" necessary to his survival, but Abbas is establishing an independent satellite channel. The Americans are planning to send hundreds of millions of dollars into the territories, to dry up Hamas' Dawa charity system and replace it with enlightened Western democratic money.
2003-07-07 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive