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Palestinian Armed Factions Capitalize on Truce to Regroup

(AFP/Relief Web-Switzerland) Sakher Abu El Oun - Palestinian militant groups, weakened by more than four years of fighting against Israel, are capitalizing on the relative calm of an informal truce to strengthen their political and military clout. "This calm is not a gift to the occupation. We will work on and prepare ourselves. Disbanding the armed wing of Hamas is absolutely out of the question," said Abu Ubada, spokesman for the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades. A spokesman for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated to the mainstream Fatah party, said its militants would integrate into PA security forces without sacrificing the "resistance." "A large number of our fighters already belong to the security services. Joining the security services does not at all signify the end of resistance," said Abu Qussay. "We are ready to fight back at any moment," he warned. "Weapons will remain in the hands of the resistance and we will direct them only against the Israeli enemy." Abu al-Walid from the leadership of Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said the faction aimed to take advantage of the lull "to prepare our military apparatus to confront any eventuality."
2005-03-22 00:00:00
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