(Jerusalem Post) Khaled Abu Toameh - The Fatah Central Council and the PLO Executive Committee - the Palestinians' two key decision-making bodies - met in Ramallah on Sunday to discuss Arafat's proposal to appoint Nasser Yousef as interior minister - a proposal seen by many as an attempt to sideline Security Minister Mohammed Dahlan. Dahlan is in charge of only three of the dozen or so PA security organizations, and in recent weeks has made several attempts to expand his jurisdiction. "Dahlan thinks he can bypass everyone in Fatah and the PLO. He apparently forgot that he works for the Palestinian Authority, not Washington," said a Fatah official. Palestinian security officials played down the significance of raids in Rafah on Saturday night against Palestinian smugglers. Palestinian political analyst Hani Habib said the main purpose of the raids was to appease Israel.
2003-08-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive