OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 21 April 2003 — Amid an Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip that left five Palestinians and an Israeli soldier dead, Yasser Arafat was locked in a tug-of-war yesterday with his prime minister-designate, Mahmoud Abbas, over the formation of a new Cabinet.
Abbas, more commonly known by his nickname Abu Mazen, stormed out of a meeting of the Fatah central council in Ramallah on Saturday night after Arafat vetoed his appointment of Mohammed Dahlan, the former Gaza security chief, as interior minister. Abu Mazen is reported to have threatened to return his mandate.
US President George W. Bush has promised to publish an international “road map” for a Palestinian state as soon as the new Cabinet is sworn in. The Americans and Israelis respect Abu Mazen as more credible and more pragmatic than the Palestinian president, but observers contend that Arafat is determined to keep security and the peace process in his own hands. Israel hinted last week that it would make several confidence-building gestures once Abu Mazen took office. They include easing travel restrictions, gradually withdrawing from occupied Palestinian towns, releasing some security prisoners and unfreezing more tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority.
The Americans have also indicated that they will press Israel to evacuate some of the 100 settler outposts dotted around the West Bank and freeze settlement construction. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said at the weekend that he would fly to the Middle East soon to promote the road map.
As interior minister, Dahlan would be responsible for controlling and disarming Palestinian militias and preventing attacks on Israeli civilians. He built up a reputation for strength and independence in Gaza. As a member of the Palestinian negotiating team at Camp David in July 2000, he urged Arafat to accept a peace blueprint offered by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Palestinian critics say that Arafat wants one of his own loyalists, Hani El-Hassan, to stay on as interior minister. One minister in the outgoing Cabinet suggested, however, that Arafat was merely reluctant to promote the 42-year-old Dahlan over the heads of older, more senior security officers.
Abu Mazen insists that he must be a prime minister with real power, but has agreed to retain three Arafat favorites he wanted to demote — El-Hassan, Saeb Erekat and Yasser Abed Rabbo. His supporters claim these are marginal concessions in the hope of reaching agreement by Wednesday.
In the pre-dawn raid on the Gaza Strip town of Rafah, the Israeli armor met stiff resistance from Palestinian fighters. Palestinian fighters also fired home-made Qassam rockets into southern Israel, hitting a building in Sderot and leaving one Israeli woman needing treatment for smoke inhalation.
The Israeli military said they had uncovered and destroyed two tunnels used for smuggling arms into the town. — Additional input from agencies
