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| Middle East |
| Abbas shuffles Palestinian ministry of interior officials |
| 2003-05-20 |
| Jpost - reg req'd In a move aimed at implementing wide scale reforms in the Palestinian Authority's police force, Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) on Tuesday announced a series of new appointments in the Ministry of Interior. Palestinian security officials told The Jerusalem Post that the appointments were coordinated with Mohammed Dahlan, Minister for Security Affairs who is also serving as the de facto Minister of Interior in charge of the security forces. Soon to receive a house warming gift from Arafat, right Al-Aska Paul? The officials would not say if Abbas had consulted with PA Chairman Yasser Arafat before deciding on the appointments, mostly in the Gaza Strip. Until now Arafat, who also served as Minister of Interior, was the only one authorized to make such appointments in the police force. The new directive issued by Abbas affects 17 officers belonging to the blue uniformed police force. Sources close to the Palestinian prime minister said this was the first time that such a large number of senior police officers have been either promoted or removed from their jobs. The new appointments, however, are not linked to Abbas's decision to disarm Palestinian terrorist groups—a task that would only be carried out by the Preventive Security Force, General Intelligence, Force 17, and Military Intelligence—all which remain under the control of Arafat. Abbas is also expected to replace all the commanders of the police force in the West Bank, the sources added. Dahlan met last week with the 17 ranking officers in the Gaza Strip and briefed them on the changes in the Ministry of Interior. According to sources in Gaza City, Dahlan warned the officers that the new Palestinian cabinet would severely punish those who fail to carry out their duties faithfully. He also urged the officers to work toward enforcing law and order, saying no one was above the law and offenders would be punished. In addition to the 12,000-strong police force, the changes cover police academies, the prisons authority, and the civil defense. Abbas has yet to name a police commissioner general to replace Gen. Ghazi Jabali, who was dismissed from his job by Arafat following charges of corruption. He must have been withholding Arafat's cut, otherwise how would you differentiate this guy from the rest of the corrupt? Hard to tell if any of this stuff is internal turf battles, real reform, or window dressing for the roadmap. Gotta give it a couple weeks - if the new guys start getting snuffed, then these were real reforms |
| Posted by:Frank G |