Arafat sacks security chief as shakeup begins

GAZA - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat formally sacked his security chief in the West Bank yesterday, aides said, in the first signs of a high-level shakeup carried out under intense US pressure for reform.

But political upheaval within the Palestinian ranks was quickly overshadowed by violence at home and abroad.

A car bomb killed two suspected Palestinian militants in Gaza in an attack their comrades called an Israeli "assassination", and thousands of kilometres away at Los Angeles airport, two people were shot and killed at the ticket desk of Israel's El Al airlines.

Early claims by Israeli Transport Minister Efraim Sneh that the Los Angeles shooting was believed to be a "terrorist attack" were discounted in America.

A senior Palestinian official said Jibril Rajoub, powerful head of the Palestinian Preventive Service in the West Bank and once mooted as a potential successor to the 73-year-old Arafat, was served dismissal papers by the president yesterday.

Arafat had decided on Thursday to shunt Rajoub to Jenin as governor of the northern West Bank city and appoint the incumbent there, Zuhair Manasra, as the new Preventive Security chief in the West Bank, the official said.

The Palestinian police chief, Ghazi al-Jabali, meanwhile, resigned to challenge Arafat for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority in elections six months away. But Jabali's chances looked dim.

Confusion over Rajoub's status had swirled after he denied strong rumours on Thursday that he had been sacked but said he would step down if so ordered in writing by Arafat.

Disarray in the Palestinian hierarchy overshadowed a relaxation of curfews in four of seven West Bank cities. Palestinians emerged from their homes to try to stock up on supplies before the Israeli Army reimposed curfews by nightfall.

In Palestinian-ruled Gaza City, a car bomb killed two suspected militants of the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Arafat's Fatah movement.

The Israeli Army declined comment. Israel has an internationally condemned policy of killing Palestinian militant commanders it blames for attacks on Israeli civilians.

The Gaza City blast left body parts scattered around a burned, mangled, white Mercedes, and a local mosque began mourning Jihad Amerin, 38, the Gaza leader of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.

Palestinian security and hospital officials identified the other man killed as Nael Namera, 27, from Gaza, a lieutenant in the Palestinians' preventive security forces.

Amerin was a former police officer, but quit about nine months ago and went underground, rejecting Arafat's ceasefire calls.

Though authorities had yet to formally confirm Amerin's death, he was mourned over the loudspeaker of a local mosque, which carried a vow of revenge from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades: "Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Gaza mourn its leader, Jihad Amerin, and we vow to God that his blood will not be wasted. Our revenge will come like an earthquake for the Zionists' dirty crime."

Rajoub's reputation suffered after he slipped out of his West Bank headquarters hours before the Israeli Army laid siege to it in April and netted a number of militants involved in an uprising for independence backed by the Palestinian leadership.

The weak to non-existent response of Palestinian security forces to Israeli offensives into West Bank cities, now re-occupied and largely under curfew, after a spate of suicide bombings by militants may also have figured in his ousting.

Manasra, the Jenin governor, said he had received a presidential decree by fax yesterday naming him West Bank security chief.

Manasra's jurisdiction, Jenin, put up the bloodiest resistance to a six-week Israeli offensive last spring and elicited praise for the "martyrdom" and "heroism" of its militant fighters from the Palestinian leadership.

Palestinian political sources said Jabali, around 60, had no popular standing after being linked to scandals over alleged corruption and would have no chance beating Arafat, symbol of Palestinian independence hopes since the 1960s, in an election.

Arafat's information minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo, said the Palestinian Authority would formally announce reforms to the overlapping, murky security services in the next few days.

But Israel and the United States want Arafat removed, alleging the ex-guerrilla chief has sponsored deadly militant attacks on Israeli civilians - he denies it - and has no real commitment to a 100-day crash reform plan announced last week.

Arafat has not commented on the political infighting. He is widely expected to seek and win re-election in the voting he has called for mid-January, the first since 1996.

Whatever the outcome of the Palestinian power struggle, it was unlikely to mollify Arafat's US critics.

In an interview on Thursday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell reasserted Washington's position that it will no longer deal with Arafat.

He said US officials had embarked on a diplomatic effort to bring reluctant Europeans on board.

Arafat recently called elections and announced an overhaul of Palestinian institutions, including the security services Israel has blamed for failing to stop attacks that have killed scores of Israelis.

At least 1433 Palestinians and 548 Israelis have been killed since the uprising began after peace talks stalled.

- REUTERS

Feature: Middle East

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