Arafat scrambles to defuse crisis over Gaza chaos
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-20 10:51

Scrambling to defuse a Palestinian leadership crisis, President Yasser Arafat named a new security chief on Monday over the head of a cousin whose appointment led to a weekend of violence by gunmen protesting at corruption.

But Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie kept the heat on Arafat by saying he stood for now by his resignation, tendered in frustration over what he called an explosion of "chaos and lawlessness" that he has been powerless to stop.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat attends a meeting in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah July 19, 2004. Backing down in the face of unprecedented unrest, Arafat scrambled Monday to defuse a Palestinian leadership crisis triggered by turmoil in Gaza over corruption in his government and security forces. [Reuters]

Arafat, 75, is facing the stiffest challenge to his leadership since Palestinians received a measure of self-rule from Israel a decade ago. Some fear it could eventually boil over into civil war.

The confrontation is also widely seen as a power struggle between Arafat's old guard and younger rivals staking out turf before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon carries out a plan to remove Jewish settlements from Gaza by the end of 2005.

Arafat, under public pressure to overhaul his security apparatus, named Abdel-Razek al-Majaideh to the new post of overall security director for the West Bank and Gaza.

He would outrank Moussa Arafat, the cousin widely seen as a symbol of entrenched cronyism, officials said.

The reinstatement of Majaideh, a veteran commander who resigned earlier this month at Arafat's request, was greeted by supporters firing automatic weapons in the air.

Gunmen opposed to Moussa Arafat, appointed security chief in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, had battled security forces there on Sunday in clashes that left 18 people wounded.

Under the new arrangement, Moussa Arafat will retain a senior security post in Gaza.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie addresses journalists in the West Bank city of Ramallah July,19, 2004. Qurie said on Monday his resignation would stand pending a written response from President Yasser Arafat. [Reuters]

QURIE WANTS REFORM

Compounding Arafat's woes was Qurie's decision on Saturday to submit his resignation after brief abductions on Friday of four French aid workers, a police chief and another official in Gaza. Arafat rejected Qurie's resignation on Sunday.

After a cabinet meeting on Monday, Qurie said his resignation would stand pending a written response from Arafat but added most ministers were against him quitting, signaling he could still return.

He made clear his final decision could depend on Arafat's willingness to cede security powers. "It's about time to reform our security forces," Qurie said.

A moderate traditionally close to Arafat, Qurie has failed to get the president to enact security reforms demanded by international mediators as a condition for a "road map" peace plan promising Palestinian statehood.

There was speculation that Palestinian guerrillas had struck again inside Israel when an Israeli judge was found shot dead in his car in the driveway of his home in a posh Tel Aviv suburb. A militant group within Arafat's Fatah organization swiftly claimed responsibility in a phone call to Reuters.

But Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid dismissed the claim. "What we are ... sure of already is that this does not have a background of terrorism, and that the boasting of this terrorist organization has no basis," he told Israel Radio.

The caller said Azar was shot for suggesting that the Palestinian Authority be fined for suicide bomb attacks on Israelis, and in revenge for the slaying of a Hizbollah leader in Lebanon.

A bomb killed a senior figure in the Lebanese guerrilla movement in the Beirut suburbs on Monday. Hizbollah, which backs a Palestinian revolt against Israel, blamed the attack on Israeli agents. Israel declined comment.

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