(Ha'aretz) Arnon Regular - Arafat has in effect erased nearly all of the security reforms made during the Abbas government. According to his instructions to the Gaza Preventive Security forces headquarters on Tuesday, the force, which had been unified under former interior minister Mohammed Dahlan, has been redivided, preventing the new interior minister from using the Preventive Security forces as a power base. Two weeks ago Arafat reappointed General Razi Jibali as commander of the "blue" civilian police in the territories, after firing him last year under pressure from Israel, which declared Jibali a wanted man. Last weekend, Arafat confidante Hakam Balawi, a novelist and playwright, was named interior minister in the new government.
2003-11-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive