GAZA CITY, 8 July — The Palestinian Basic Law, or provisional constitution, came into effect yesterday as part of President Yasser Arafat’s heralded reform program, Justice Minister Ibrahim Dughmeh said.
In another development yesterday the Palestinian leader signed a decree sacking the Palestinian intelligence chief in the West Bank, Gen. Tawfiq Tirawi, senior Palestinian sources close to Arafat told AFP.
Although Arafat had signed the decree dismissing the intelligence chief, the Palestinian leader had not yet presented it to Tirawi, the sources said. But, Palestinian head of intelligence for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Amin Al-Hindi, denied that Arafat had sack Tirawi.
Meanwhile, the Basic Law, first passed by the Parliament in 1997, but left unsigned by Arafat until this past May, guarantees the powers of the judiciary and Parliament, where in the past Arafat’s presidential office could run roughshod over other public institutions.
“The Basic Law entered into force today after having been promulgated at the end of May by Yasser Arafat,” Dugmeh said.
“This law defines the powers of the Palestinian Authority and will serve as the constitution until the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
The Basic Law refers to Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as the Palestinian capital, Islam as the Authority’s official religion, the Shariah as the source for all legislation, and Arabic as the national language.
It envisions “a democratic power, based on pluralism, an independent judiciary and an elected Parliament with a legislative role,” according to a copy of the document obtained by AFP. The Basic Law also calls for regular presidential elections and for the Parliament to serve as a counterweight to the Cabinet.
The pressure to reform the Authority followed on the heels of the six-week Israeli reoccupation of the West Bank that ended on May 10 and left the Palestinian territories devastated.
The signing of the Basic Law came amid growing US hostility to Arafat as President George W. Bush lined up behind Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in seeking his ouster.
In Hebron, hundreds of supporters of Jibril Rajoub, the West Bank strongman dumped by Arafat, took to the streets in his defense yesterday, while Israeli troops clashed with Palestinians trying to infiltrate a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip.
Around 500 people had gathered in Hebron, chanting slogans in support of Rajoub and taking advantage of the lifting of a curfew by the Israeli Army, which has reoccupied almost the entire West Bank in recent operations.
In Nablus, a Palestinian man was critically injured yesterday when a bullet from an Israeli tank hit him in the face as he tried to enter the northern West Bank town of Nablus from surrounding villages, Palestinian medics said.
The man was hit when a tank opened fire near a group of Palestinians trying to enter Nablus during a lifting of the curfew. His identity was not immediately known.
Witnesses also said that Israeli helicopters had fired warning shots over the city as the army re-imposed the curfew an hour early, at 1:00 p.m. (1000 GMT) instead of 2:00 p.m. And a Palestinian boy hit by machine gun fire from an Israeli tank on June 27 died of his injuries yesterday, his family said.
Relatives said Shukri Dawud, aged 10, died in a hospital in Israel where he had been evacuated after being hit.
The Israeli Army said yesterday it had captured two armed Palestinians near the Jewish settlement of Alei Sinai in the Gaza Strip.
Israel yesterday appointed new ambassadors to key posts in Washington, the United Nations and France, the Cabinet said in a statement.
Meanwhile, representatives of 11 members of the Arab League will meet in Cairo Friday, to discuss the situation in the Middle East in two separate meetings.
