(Jerusalem Post) Khaled Abu Toameh - General Musa Arafat, the commander of the PA's Military Intelligence who escaped an assassination attempt Thursday, is a cousin and lookalike of Yasser Arafat. He is one of a number of security chiefs who have refused to take orders from Mohammed Dahlan, insisting on reporting directly to Arafat in Ramallah. Other security organizations that remain under Arafat's control are the West Bank branch of the Preventive Security Service led by Col. Ziad Hab al-Reeh, the West Bank branch of General Intelligence led by Col. Tawkif Tirawi, the National Security Force led by Haj Ismail Jabr, and Force 17 (Arafat's presidential guard) led by Brig. Gen. Faisal Abu Sharkh. Musa Arafat ruled out the possibility that the attack on him was the work of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or Israel. "Gen. Arafat is pointing an accusing finger at his rivals in the Palestinian security forces," remarked a veteran journalist from Gaza City.
2003-07-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive