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Mahmoud Abbas being hustled away after a previousl altercation with rival groups. (AP)
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| By Associated Press April 4, 2005 |
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Spurred by a frontal attack from gunmen and threatened by electoral defeat, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is carrying out a pledge to start challenging the armed gangs of militants spreading chaos in the West Bank.
An audacious rampage through the streets of Ramallah, starting with shooting up Abbas' headquarters, the Muqaata, while he was inside, finally pushed Abbas to act, not demands by Israel and the United States for a crackdown.
"The Palestinian Authority has been crippled and it's become very evident to the people," Palestinian political analyst Hani Masri says. "It reached a point where people were wondering what value is there in having a leader."
On Saturday, Abbas forced out West Bank security chief Ismail Jaber a corruption tainted patron of some of the militants and said he would forcibly retire hundreds of senior officers. This was seen as a strong signal that he is serious about security reform and no longer willing to tolerate militants' defiance.
Abbas has picked Nablus security commander Maj. Gen. Nadal Asoli as Jaber's replacement, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Asoli's name has not been linked to corruption charges.
Lacking an independent power base, Abbas had resisted taking on the militants since he was elected in January to head the Palestinian Authority after Yasser Arafat's death. He hoped, instead, to co-opt them into the Palestinian security forces.
However, the militants, who have hoarded power during four years of fighting with Israel and have established de facto gang rule in many West Bank towns, resisted and openly challenged Abbas' authority.
Last month, militant leader Zakariye Zubeydi brazenly challenged Palestinian security chief Nasser Yousef for entering the West Bank town of Jenin without first getting his permission.
Yousef exploded in anger when Zubeydi fired a rifle outside police headquarters while he held meetings inside. He demanded the militant's arrest, then quickly backed down and let him go.
Other militants broke into the main jail in Gaza in February and killed three prisoners there as part of a clan feud.
Palestinians are becoming increasingly fed up with the lawlessness in their streets, and Abbas has little choice but to tackle the problem quickly if he wants his Fatah Party to have any hope of winning July parliamentary elections. Convinced Fatah is corrupt and ineffective, many Palestinians are turning to the militant Hamas group.
To make matters worse for Abbas, many of those running rampant and challenging his power are actually members of Fatah or the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group affiliated with Fatah. Some of the militants are also members of the very security forces expected to stop them.
"This chaos is harming the Palestinian Authority and Fatah totally, and if they don't reform now, you can say farewell to Fatah," Masri said. "Hamas is powerful, and Fatah is fighting a battle with itself and is at the same time unable to bring law and order to the streets."
Nabil Amr, a legislator close to Abbas, said restoring order has become "a national demand."
Israeli officials said Sunday they hoped Abbas was finally prepared to tackle the militants. Gang rule in the West Bank "is the primary problem today that is holding up moving forward on the process of peaceful reconciliation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.
Gang members rose to prominence by killing collaborators during the first Palestinian uprising, Palestinian security officials said. In the second uprising, they also began running a blackmail, car theft and protection racket from the safety of the Muqaata. Loyal to Jaber, gang members were occasionally sent on missions to threaten rival officials, the officials said.
Furious at being evicted, the men grabbed their rifles Wednesday and shot up the Muqaata while Abbas was present, before going on a brazen rampage through Ramallah.
They burst into Ziryab, a hip cafe filled with Palestinian intellectuals and foreigners, shot up the windows, smashed wine bottles and sent the patrons fleeing in fear.
About a dozen militants in four cars pulled up in front of Darna, the toniest restaurant in town, and ripped it apart. The gunmen ran through the sprawling restaurant complex, kicking over tables filled with plates, shooting up refrigerators and smashing windows, lightbulbs and televisions.
"They pointed their guns in all our faces. It was scary, frantic," said Khader Abu Jihad, a waiter at Darna.
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