[TIME] Andrew Lee Butters - Mahmoud Abbas keeps getting weaker and his Fatah movement has been losing ground in the Palestinian territories ever since the Islamic party Hamas won the Gaza elections in 2005. Still, at least Fatah remained the most powerful party among Palestinians living abroad, especially among the 400,000 Palestinians in Lebanon. Last week, Fatah rivals staged an assassination attempt against Abbas' man in Lebanon, Abbas Zaki. The would-be assassin was nabbed as he was about to plant a car bomb in front of the Palestinian embassy in Beirut. Under questioning, the suspect fingered the number two Palestinian leader in Lebanon, Sultan Abul Ainain, a warlord of the old school, accused by Lebanese authorities of heading a jihadist sleeper cell and various mafioso-style criminal activities. Abbas sent Zaki to Lebanon three years ago to clean up Sultan's mess. Abbas wants Sultan to face trial in a Palestinian court in Jordan. But the warlord is unlikely to go quietly. In the event of an inter-Fatah war in Lebanon (which Sultan would probably win), it is hard to imagine how Abbas could command enough respect among Palestinians to pull off a peace deal with Israel.
2008-04-16 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive