(Newsday) Andrew Metz - On a rutted road through terrain frequently used by militants to stage rocket attacks against Israel, three Palestinian police officers unenthusiastically manned their posts. The day before, Mahmoud Abbas had ordered Palestinian security forces to prevent militant operations. "I'm not ready to shoot at my cousin or brother," said one of the men. "Anyway, if we did get the order we wouldn't do it." Although Abbas has top political and security officials behind his efforts, many rank-and-file seem to have little will to confront well-armed militant factions that are entrenched in society. "Nobody is ready to give an order to fight these organizations," said Gen. Saeb el-Ajez, who controls Palestinian police in Gaza and the West Bank. "If it comes to fighting these organizations, we will lose and there will be a bloodbath."
2005-01-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive