Abbas loyalists threaten Hamas with civil war

The Sunday Times May 28, 2006

Abbas loyalists threaten Hamas with civil war
Uzi Mahnaimi

FORCES loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, are preparing for an onslaught against the military wing of the Islamist rival group Hamas in a desperate attempt to sustain his waning power.
“Civil war is inevitable,” a senior Palestinian security official said last week. He predicted a bloody denouement to tensions heightened by a warning from Abbas that he will hold a referendum on proposals for separate Palestinian and Israeli states which the Hamas government refuses to accept.


“Time is running out for Hamas. We’ll choose the right time and place for the military showdown. But after that there will be no more of Hamas’s militias,” said the official as he sipped honey-laced mint tea in his sitting room while watching the antics of hooded militants on his television.

“I read our daily intelligence reports about Hamas and know very well that these people are planning to overthrow our president by force.”
snip


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2200174,00.html

:nuke:

Protection of more than his body it seems, but also his political position. Or taking back what he lost at the ballot box even.

Smooth. Real smooth.