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Deadly Feud in Gaza Follows an Old Script
(Los Angeles Times) Laura King - The Palestinian security apparatus was specifically designed as an array of competing militias, ensuring that no single commander would grow powerful enough to challenge Arafat. Now, after Arafat's death and Hamas' rise to political power, chieftains aligned with the defeated Fatah faction are scrambling to retain influence and control of their own bands of armed followers, even while taking on the fighters of Hamas. "More and more, Gaza is ruled by warlords," said Eyad Sarraj, who heads a human rights group in Gaza. "We are turning into a kind of Somalia. And this is Arafat's legacy." With government salaries unpaid for more than two months, thousands of gunmen are ready to sell their services to whoever can offer them a paycheck. A united Fatah army could easily dominate Hamas, but Fatah commanders have individual scores to settle with one another and don't always come to their comrades' aid in confrontations with Hamas.