(New York Times) Steven Erlanger - Mahmoud Abbas will face enormous challenges when he sits down to work on Monday morning. While relations with Israel are pressing, his most profound difficulties are internal. His job will be restoring a semblance of fairness, security, and stability to the institutions that profess to represent Palestinians and that will manage any future Palestinian state. Abbas's challenges comprise security, institutional and personnel reform, Palestinian militants, and relations with Israel, the analysts say. They also agree that there are those who do not want him to succeed, but instead want him dead. In the last two months in Gaza, up to 50 people have been killed in cases ranging from business disputes to military rivalries, according to Gazan residents and local journalists. No one has been arrested.
2005-01-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive