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PA minister Mohammad Dahlan gives his word: "We are working on a security plan to protect the settlements".
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners May 1, 2005 |
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The Palestinian Authority is allegedly working on a security plan to prevent the looting or destruction of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip after Israel pulls out of the territory. This, acording to PA Civil Affairs Minister Mohammad Dahlan.
"The people are emotional and view the settlements as sites that have caused the suffering and death of many Palestinians," Dahlan told Reuters. "Revenge acts against the settlers' buildings are expected but we will make sure the people understand the importance of keeping them intact."
This, after the PA requested approval from Israel to absorb wanted Palestinians -- and their weapons -- into the PA's security forces on Friday.
Israel rejected the "request," saying what troubled Israel most about it was PA chariman Mahmoud Abbas' decision not to disarm the wanted men, but to allow them to be recruited into the PA's security mechanisms along with their personal weapons; in other words, the weapons wouldn't be seized but "laundered" thanks to the new jobs they would receive.
Israel informed the PA that it is opposed to an arrangement under which individuals who were involved in terror in the past would be able to maintain possession of their arms and also get paid to do so.
Israel is set to evacuate all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four of 120 in the West Bank this year, under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement plan".
Sharon has said he expects that once settlers and soldiers who guard them leave, Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip will rush to settlement villas Israel may leave intact, and strip them bare of windows, tiles and pipes.
Palestinian officials said they want to avoid the kind of wide-scale looting that erupted in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
"We will not allow any side to control the assets of the Palestinian people," said Dahlan, who is also in charge of coordinating the withdrawal with Israel. "We are working on a security plan to protect the settlements and the cabinet will also pass some laws to ensure a smooth handover."
Dahlan said he and his team of 'technical experts' would hold town hall gatherings and meet the business community as well as with civil organizations to avoid post-pullout chaos.
His comments coincided with a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority by James Wolfensohn, newly named to represent major powers in coordinating the economic aspects of the pullout.
Wolfensohn, the departing president of the World Bank, met Israeli and Palestinian leaders over the weekend.
Dahlan has met twice with senior Israeli officials to discuss the freedom of movement of goods and people from Gaza and the West Bank after the withdrawal and ensuring a territorial link between the two areas separated by Israeli territory.
"It is very important for Palestinians to feel a dramatic change in their lives after the Israeli pullout," said Dahlan. "If Israel insists on maintaining control over border crossings and impedes the movement of goods and people, it will kill the Palestinian economy and we'll be heading towards a disaster."
Israel is in charge of the border passages under interim peace deals with the Palestinians. It says such control is essential to its security.
"The current arrangement of moving goods by trucks by loading them back-to-back has proven to be a failure," he said, referring to the transfer of cargo between Israeli and Palestinian vehicles at Gaza border terminals.
"We have suggested door-to-door, whereby a Palestinian businessman would ship his goods directly to the airport or sea port [in Israel], just like the settlers in Gaza," Dahlan said.
"We need a safe passage that links Gaza and the West Bank. We reject any hint of separation. They have yet to respond to all our queries."
The AP contributed to this report.
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