Arafat rejects his cabinet's demand to act against terror

Arafat rejects the demand of his cabinent to act against terror
By Arnon Regular and Aluf Benn -- Haaretz
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
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Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat on Monday refused his cabinet's call to use the Palestinian security forces against terror organizations.
At a heated emergency meeting in Arafat's Muqata compound in Ramallah - called in response to the suicide bombing in Ashdod Port two days ago, for which both Fatah and Hamas claimed responsibility. Interior Minister Hakem Balawi and the commander of the National Security forces, Haj Ismail Jabbar, both called upon Arafat to act against Hamas and Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Other ministers joined the call, warning Arafat of Israel's expected harsh response to the attack and the international community's reaction to the continuing chaos in the territories.
The ministers sought the authority to arrest Fatah activists acting independently and to apply all stages of a plan to restore control of the Palestinian street to the security forces. One Palestinian source in the cabinet said that some ministers even warned Arafat that Fatah members might be drafted into Hamas in Gaza. They also made it clear that the PA had lost control of Fatah's military wing in some areas of both the West Bank and Gaza.
But according to the source, Arafat refused to allow arrests of Fatah activists and also turned down other aspects of the plan, such as the collection of illegal arms.
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Read the rest here.

his bodyguards have more guns.

Hey, no one here loves the guy, but surely all those Palestinian terrorist groups a little to do with it?

That's quite untrue.

DuctapeFatwa is not blaming Sharon for everything. I think you are missing his point.

Sharon is a war criminal,and most people know it but he gets a pass and I don't know why,do you?.

While Palestinians have no authority over Israel, have no legitimate court, the procedure is first to have an indictment brought and arrest warrants issued. Of course, that has not been done. The Belgian court which accepted those charges was judged unconstitutional by their own laws.

speaks for itself.

either Clinton did it or Arafat did it,so much bull.There are people out there defending the the real mischief makers aka Bush&Sharon.

It got really cold in Siberia this past winter.

Asking Arafat to against terrorists would have been like asking Pol Pot to crack down on the Khmer Rouge and putting an end to the killing fields

What's even more hilarious than the notion that Arafat would act against Palestinian terrorists is the people here who blame Israel for what members of the Palestinian cabinet blame on Arafat.

Ah well, I guess the people here know more about the source of terror by Palestinian groups than Palestinian cabinet members.

Arafat loves them, that's for sure. He wouldn't harm a hair on their heads. After all, he needs all the support he can get. He refuses to cause any of his loyal followers, especially among the dangerous ones, to have cause to rebel. Not Arafat.

I'm shocked

Are you kicking the thread in the hope that Arafat will change his mind and do something about reining in terrorists?

Wouldn't you like Arial the mermaid Sharon to do that?