Dahlan, Abbas feud pushes Fatah to brink of crisis

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — On March 5, most of the 77,000 Palestinian Authority (PA) employees located in Gaza received their February salaries, but about a hundred returned from their banks empty-handed. They weren’t paid because of an official decision by the PA against supporters of Mohammed Dahlan, a member of the Legislative Council and a dismissed leader from Fatah, who differs with the PA’s general policy. The decision to stop payment on the salaries has worsened the crisis between Dahlan and President Mahmoud Abbas.

Al-Monitor obtained the names of those affected by this decision, and all of them are employed in the Preventive Security Service, which was led by Dahlan. From a security source in Gaza, Al-Monitor learned that a number of those who didn’t receive their salaries are wanted by Hamas and fled from Gaza to Egypt and the West Bank after the takeover in mid-2007, while the rest are still in Gaza.

The reactions to the decision came quickly. On March 8, those who didn’t receive their salaries held a sit-in in Gaza, which Al-Monitor attended, and strongly criticized the decision. They demanded that Abbas immediately reverse the decision in light of the difficult economic conditions in Gaza and threatened to set up a protest tent in front of the homes of Fatah’s higher leadership in Gaza.

Al-Monitor received a copy of the letter sent from the unpaid workers to Fatah. They said that they are not against Abbas and don’t follow a particular person, but that they support Dahlan’s idea of regulatory reform. They accused the Fatah leadership in the West Bank of marginalizing Gaza and its people at all organizational levels of the Central Committee and the Revolutionary Council.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/03/dahlan-abbas-hamas-fatah-gaza-salaries.html#ixzz2vtAB7HON

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1. Abbas remarks about killing Shehadah 'dangerous'

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – The Hamas movement said Thursday that President Mahmoud Abbas revealed “dangerous information” in a speech Wednesday addressing the Fatah revolutionary council.

In a statement, Hamas added that ousted Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan was aware beforehand of an Israeli plan to target and kill senior leader of Hamas’ military wing Sheikh Salah Shehadah.

Shehadah was killed in July 2002, after an Israeli F16 plane fired a 1-ton bomb at a building in Gaza City he was hiding in. At least 15 civilians were killed in the attack and more than 100 others were injured.

Quoting Hamas spokesman Salah al-Bardawil, the statement highlighted that Abbas’ remarks were very dangerous and “need a comprehensive investigation.”

In a speech in front of the Fatah council, Abbas accused Dahlan of being involved in the murder of six outstanding Palestinian leaders including Shehadah of Hamas.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=681153

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2. Abbas accuses political foe of murder, hints at connection to Arafat death

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has accused one of his main rivals, Mohammed Dahlan, of involvement in six murders, hinting that he might also be behind the death of former leader Yasser Arafat.

Dahlan, who lives in exile in the Gulf, denied the allegations of his arch foe Abbas, their bitter row now playing out publicly across the Palestinian media and on social media.

Once a prominent official in Abbas's Western-backed Fatah movement, Dahlan was ousted from the group in 2011 following accusations of corruption. He denied the charges and remains a powerful figure on the sidelines, forging ties with numerous Arab leaders and maintaining links with the splintered Fatah.

Abbas lashed out at Dahlan, who is regularly cited as a possible future president, during a Fatah meeting earlier this week, with his comments later released to the press.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.579709