`Strongman quits Abbas government

[Lithos]

One of the strongmen of Palestinian politics, Jibril Rajoub, resigned from the government last night as the newly elected president, Mahmoud Abbas, prepared to embark on a long-awaited shake-up of the security services.

...

Mr Rajoub's resignation could yet turn out to be merely a gesture to show that Mr Abbas is in charge. Even while Mr Arafat was in power, Mr Rajoub advocated reducing the dozen security branches to three, much the same policy as is now being pursued by Mr Abbas.

A Palestinian official said last night that Mr Rajoub had resigned "to leave space for Abu Mazen to reorganise the security services". The official said he expected Mr Rajoub to play a part in the government in some capacity.

Mr Abbas could begin making new appointments today, indicating whether he has sufficient power to dispense with the cronies from Mr Arafat's administration.

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We shall see how successful Abbas is in removing the Tunisian mafia who have held power far too long. I also wish to acknowledge the effort Mr. Rajoub made. Hopefully the first of many bold steps.



L-

[drdon326]

1. Was he pushed or did he jump??

time will tell.

[Lithos]

2. The article suggested he was in favor of the idea

One of Israel's complaints has been the rather compartmentalized security force structure which has hampered their ability to go after people like Hamas.

L-

[drdon326]

3. BTW.....Off topic but from your article...

In defiance of a call by Mr Abbas for an end to rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli targets, Hamas fired fresh batches from Gaza yesterday morning. The Israeli army said several buildings, including a synagogue packed with worshippers, were damaged. An Israeli hit by a rocket attack near the Erez crossing in Gaza on January 2 died yesterday.


Pop quiz....

This direct defiance of of Abbas will lead to

a.Abbas issueing a new request for hamas to "c'mon guys...please stop"

b.Abbas calling for hamas to be dismantled and destroyed according to the road map that Abbas OPENLY SUPPORTS

c.Abbas doing absolutely nothing

d.Abbas demanding israel not retaliate because hamas needs to be "protected".

[Malikshah]

4. I'm confused...isn't Rajoub and "insider"

as opposed to being part of the "Tunisian mafia"--

I think Abbas, as part of the Tunisian group will just have more of the same...