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Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/405498.html
The British Are Here, With Arafat's Approval
(Ha'aretz) Ze'ev Schiff - The British are now setting up two new operation control rooms, one in Ramallah and one in Gaza, for Palestinian security organizations, complete with a new communications system, ancillary equipment, and vehicles. The American go-ahead for British involvement was granted reluctantly and on a limited basis, and only after Blair's personal appeal to President Bush. Israel said that it would not cooperate with a program directed by Arafat. It is strange that Britain is prepared to cooperate with Arafat on security matters, since he has declined to take a single step toward implementing reforms in the Palestinian security organizations (among other things, reducing the number of men under arms, and ensuring their genuine subordination to the prime minister or the interior minister). The fact that he is the boss and that everything has to go through him, including all security matters, does not justify cooperation with him under these conditions.