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Security Sources Question Ceasefire's Viability

(Ha'aretz) Amos Harel - After Tuesday's homicide bombings in Rosh Ha'ayin and Ariel, a senior security source said, "If the current trend continues, the hudna will merely have been a temporary interlude before the next round of violence....At the moment, the likelihood of another round seems high." The major reason for pessimism is the PA's obvious weakness. Mahmoud Abbas and Mohammed Dahlan are not able to "deliver the goods." If, in his stronghold in the Gaza Strip, Dahlan is unable to enforce his authority, then how much more so in the Samaria area, which has become extra-territorial as far as the PA is concerned. Dahlan has no foot-soldiers in the West Bank, sources say. The Rosh Ha'ayin bomber, it is suspected, belonged to a Fatah cell in Nablus' Balata refugee camp, funded by pro-Iranian elements in Lebanon. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said he "would not be surprised" if Arafat were behind the Rosh Ha'ayin attack. His aides have spoken of intelligence assessments according to which Arafat had prior knowledge of the attack and encouraged it with the hope of halting diplomatic moves.
2003-08-14 00:00:00
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