Important story from the middle east ya probably won't see

Fatah splinter group calls for killing Arafat


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 21, 2004

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A leaflet distributed over the weekend by a hitherto unknown group called Fatah – The Reformist Path called for replacing the Palestinian leadership and threatened to liquidate Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and many of his top aides.

It's not clear who stands behind the leaflet, but some senior PA officials have pointed a blaming finger at former security minister Muhammad Dahlan. They said that when Arafat saw the leaflet, he cancelled a meeting planned with Dahlan last week.

Dahlan has strongly denied responsibility for the leaflet, arguing that it was yet another attempt by his rivals to drive a wedge between him and Arafat.

This is the first time that a leaflet signed by a Fatah affiliated group calls for eliminating Arafat. Most Fatah leaders and activists who have been demanding reforms and an end to corruption in the PA have refrained from attacking Arafat personally, directing their anger instead at top officials in the PA chairman's entourage.

The leaflet, which is seen as yet another sign of growing tensions among the top brass of the PA, launched a scathing attack on a number of veteran Fatah leaders and PA officials, accusing them of stealing funds, lying, and collaboration with Israel. Among those mentioned are Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, Interior Minister Hakam Balawi, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, Fatah Central Committee members Hani al-Hassan, Abbas Zakariya al-Agha, and Sakher Habash, as well as Arafat and former PA prime minister Mahmoud Abbas.

"They are all standing as an obstacle to development and are a heavy burden on Fatah," the pamphlet said. "They must all go away before they are killed, and we mean what we say." It called for dissolving the Fatah Central Committee, which is dominated by veteran Arafat loyalists and for the establishment of an emergency leadership consisting of representatives of the young generation.

The leaflet also called for forming criminal and political courts to try all those who have abused their power and embezzled public funds.

One of the Fatah leaders whose name appeared in the leaflet told The Jerusalem Post that he was convinced that Israel and the US were behind it. "Israel and Washington are playing a filthy game with us," he charged. "Unfortunately, they have found some Palestinian puppets to assist them in their scheme."

Another Fatah official said he did not rule out the possibility that Dahlan and some of his followers in the Gaza Strip were behind the leaflet. "Now that it is clear that Dahlan has failed in his campaign against the legitimate leadership of the Palestinian people, he is resorting to these cheap methods of slander and bad-mouthing, he added."

Sources in Ramallah said the timing of the leaflet was "suspicious" because it came on the eve of a planned reconciliation between Arafat and Dahlan. The two were set to meet last week for the first time since Arafat aides accused Dahlan of launching a campaign to overthrow the PA leadership.

Arafat called off the meeting after the leaflet was distributed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, a source close to Arafat said on Saturday that the long-awaited meeting could still take place sometime this week.

"Obviously, those who published the leaflet were trying to sabotage any attempt at reconciliation between Arafat and Dahlan," the source explained. "Arafat is still interested in meeting with Dahlan."

Last week Arafat dispatched PA National Security Adviser Jibril Rajoub to a meeting with Arab journalists in Jordan to counter Dahlan's demands for reforms and allegations of widespread corruption in the PA.

"Dahlan lies whenever he opens his mouth," Rajoub told the journalists. "When he says that he is working with [jailed Fatah leader] Marwan Barghouti he is lying." Rajoub claimed that Dahlan met with Barghouti shortly before he was arrested by the IDF in Ramallah to seek his backing, but was turned down.

"Barghouti told him that if he wanted to take over he should go for elections in Fatah," he said. "But Dahlan's response was that he wants the authority through a popular uprising like that of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran."

Rajoub scoffed at Dahlan's anti-corruption campaign, saying he should be the last person to talk about transparency and reforms.