Looking for a new fashion statement? Nablus terrorists burn flags. (AP)
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| By: Israel Insider staff and partners |
| Published: December 28, 2004 |
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The Palestinian police chief on Tuesday barred gunmen from wearing police or paramilitary uniforms, as part of a fledgling law-and-order campaign in the chaotic Gaza Strip.
Interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is under pressure from Israel and the international community to rein in militants and terrorists who have killed hundreds of Israelis in bombings and shootings in more than four years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
Abbas has said he will not use force against them, but is trying to persuade them to halt attacks and stop flaunting their weapons in public. The dress code is a move in that direction.
Funerals and demonstrations are often led by large groups of gunmen wearing either self-styled military fatigues or police uniforms. Some of the gunmen, particularly those from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group with ties to Abbas' ruling Fatah movement, are also members of the security services.
The police chief in Gaza, Saeb al-Ajez, issed an order Tuesday barring gunmen from wearing police uniforms. "This is one of many steps the Palestinian police is taking to enforce the rule of law and bring security and organization to the streets," al-Ajez said in a statement.
Al-Ajez said those violating the order would be punished, but did not say how.
With Palestinian police increasingly weakened by the fighting, gunmen often fill the void, settling personal scores by force or dispensing vigilante justice.
The AP contributed to this report.
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