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Arafat Rejects PM's Resignation, Revamps Security Bodies
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Qorei
told reporters he tendered his resignation to Arafat (AFP)
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Additional
Reporting By Yasser Al Banna, IOL correspondent
GAZA
CITY, July 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat has rejected on Saturday, July 17, the
resignation of his Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei and ordered a
long-awaited revamp of the Palestinian security agencies.
Qorei
confirmed to reporters after an emergency cabinet meeting that he had
tendered his resignation to Arafat, but declined to elaborate on the
response of the Palestinian leader, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
"We
discussed the resignation that I gave to President Arafat earlier
today and the general security issues," the premier said.
However,
several Palestinian cabinet members said President Arafat rejected the
resignation.
"Arafat
has rejected Qorei's resignation," Negotiations Affair Minister
Saeb Erekat told Reuters news agency.
Minister
without portfolio Qadura Fares also confirmed the rejection of the
resignation.
"Our
information is that President Arafat has not accepted it," he was
quoted by AFP as telling reporters.
Qorei
submitted his resignation to Arafat during a meeting in the morning at
Arafat's besieged headquarters in Ramallah.
Security
Revamp
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Al-Ajez
confirmed his appointment as police chief
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Arafat's
top aide had said Sunday that the Palestinian leader had agreed to cut
the eight separate security services to three.
"President
Arafat has decided with immediate effect to cut the security services
to three -- police, general security and the intelligence
service," Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.
Arafat's
own nephew, Musa, has taken over general security from General Abdel
Razzek Al-Majeida.
General
Saed Al-Ajez had already announced his appointment as police chief in
place of General Ghazi Jabali, who was abducted for four hours Friday,
July 16.
He
was released after Arafat reportedly brokered a deal with the
kidnappers, pledging to open an investigation into alleged corruption
charges against Jabali.
Amin
Hindi, the head of Palestinian general intelligence, had offered to
resign "because of the state of chaos and the lack of action by
the Palestinian Authority to make reforms".
According
to the BBC News Online, Arafat did not accept the resignation and is
said to have reappointed Hindi.
The
new security revamp came a few hours after the Palestinian Authority
declared a
state of emergency in Gaza Strip following the kidnappings.
In
addition to Al-Jabali, a liaison officer in southern Gaza Strip and
four French aid workers were kidnapped and released Friday after
reported mediation by Arafat.
Prevailing
Corruption
Palestinian
experts blamed the spate of abductions in Gaza on prevailing
corruption in the Palestinian Authority.
Iyad
Al-Barghouthi, director of Ramallah human rights studies center, told
IslamOnline.net the kidnappings might serve Arafat as much as harming
him.
"Though
the abductions show the lack of security under Arafat's leadership,
they prove security will never be achieved unless Arafat is given a
chance to enforce order."
Arafat
has been confined to his Ramallah headquarters since the outbreak of
Al-Aqsa Intifada against the Israeli occupation nearly four years ago.
For
his part, Ashraf Al-Agrami, a Palestinian political analyst, said the
kidnappings were a direct result from the chaos in the Palestinian
territories.
They
also confirmed that the PA has no genuine desire to introduce real
changes to end the state of lawless in the Palestinian territories.
Dr.
Atef Odwan, a political science professor in the Islamic University in
Gaza, expressed dismay over the spate of abductions in Gaza, urging
for a crackdown on corrupt officials in the PA.
He
ruled out any link between the kidnappings and the internal elections
in the Fatah Movement.
Al-Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, had also called for
rooting out corruption eating away in the Palestinian Authority.
In
a statement to AFP, the group called on the Palestinian leadership to
fire all the corrupt figures who still hold senior posts.
"The
situation has become intolerable after what happened during the
day," they said in their letter to Arafat.
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