Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas was on Friday locked in a battle of wills with the Hamas government, revoking its decisions to create a new special force and name a top militant to a key security post.
The head-on collision sent tensions soaring between the moderate Palestinian Authority president and the radical Islamists, marking the first time Abbas has revoked decisions by the Hamas government since it was sworn in last month.
Abbas has ultimate responsibility for security, which has become a key battleground between Hamas and Abbas, and added to the pressure of a serious fiscal crisis in the government compounded by international aid cuts.
”President Abbas considers the decisions of interior minister Said Siam illegal and anti-constitutional, and he has sent a letter to this effect to Prime Minister Ismail Haniya,” Tayeb Abdelrahim told reporters.
On Thursday, Siam announced he was creating a new force of volunteer gunmen from armed factions to supplement the work of Palestinian police and security forces in a bid to crack down on rampant chaos.
At the same time he nominated top Gaza-based militant Jamal Abu Samhadana to a senior position in the interior ministry to oversee various security elements, including the new force.
The Palestinian Authority was left fuming at being given no prior notice of proclamations which saw the administration again castigated by Israel as a ”terrorist” outfit shortly before Abbas embarks on a European tour.
Abu Samhadana’s appointment was also criticised by Washington, which, like the European Union, froze direct aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas swept to power.
A Palestinian official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Abbas had already drawn up a decree to reverse the decisions, the text of which had been approved by the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) earlier on Friday.
”This [Hamas] decision is a clear violation and seeks to turn the armed groups of Hamas and its allies into a legal Palestinian Authority force, which will open the door to serious internal conflicts,” the source added.
Only hours earlier Haniya blessed the new force as part of endeavours to restore order to the increasingly chaotic Palestinian territories. ”I bless the announcement from brother Said Siam, the Interior Minister, yesterday [Thursday] to form a force to protect general order,” Haniya said in a sermon delivered in a Gaza mosque.
Officials said Abbas had sent Haniya a letter informing him of his decision to cancel his interior minister’s decisions which ”violated his prerogatives” and demanded the prime minister overturn them. In the letter he pointed out that the creation of a new armed force and the nomination or promotion of officers was his responsibility and his alone, the sources said.
Friday’s battle of wills was the second time in less than a month that Abbas and Hamas have been at loggerheads over security responsibilities.
Earlier in April, Haniya complained over the Palestinian Authority president’s decision to name Fatah’s strongman in Gaza, Rashid Abu Shbak, overall head of the myriad security forces.
Neither does Hamas recognise the overall supremacy of the PLO, nor have the Islamists caved into pressure from Abbas and the international community to renounce violence, recognise Israel and abide by past peace agreements.
Yet in an interview with AFP conducted before the fracas, Abbas denied any question of a power struggle with Hamas and instead referred to ”confusion” given the new administration’s inexperience. — AFP
