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U.S. Envoy Says Palestinian Forces Unprepared for Pullout
(Los Angeles Times)Mary Curtius - Just six weeks before Israel is due to evacuate its Gaza Strip settlements, the U.S. general charged with reforming the Palestinian security forces said Thursday that they were not yet ready to enforce internal security or prevent attacks on Israeli targets. Army Lt. Gen. William Ward told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the Palestinians had not yet forged their disparate security groups into a single force under a centralized command. Ward depicted a Palestinian force that is woefully unprepared to handle internal policing duties or stop attacks on Israel after Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza. The Palestinian security force has more than 58,000 members, Ward said, but no more than 22,000 "actually show up for work." David Welch, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, warned that Syria continued to support "Palestinian extremist groups." The administration is "deeply concerned about the fact that certain Palestinian extremist groups have offices and headquarters in Damascus," Welch said. "And under the circumstances, I think that is a dangerous indication of Syrian support for the activities of these groups."