Fatah slams dismissal of PA intel head

Hamas praises Gen. Tawfik Tirawi's rejection of offer to serve as Abbas's adviser on security affairs.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Fatah officials on Wednesday criticized Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's decision to dismiss Gen. Tawfik Tirawi, commander of the PA's General Intelligence Service, noting that the timing was particularly "problematic." Abbas summoned Tirawi late Tuesday night to a meeting in the Mukata "presidential" compound and informed him of the decision to fire him. Abbas offered to appoint Tirawi as his "adviser" on security affairs and to promote him to the status of minister. However, Tirawi said shortly after the meeting that he was not interested in the new job and that he plans to travel to the United Kingdom to study English. Abbas's decision to fire Tirawi is believed to be linked to the PA president's desire to patch up his differences with Hamas. On the eve of the decision, Hamas officials said they had requested that Abbas get rid of Palestinian security commanders responsible for the massive crackdown on the movement's members and institutions in the West Bank. Tirawi, along with several top PA security officials, had been entrusted by the PA leadership in Ramallah with taking precautionary measures to prevent Hamas from extending its control to the West Bank. Hamas and Fatah representatives were recently summoned to Cairo for separate talks with Egyptian government officials on ways of ending the power struggle between the two parties. The Egyptians are hoping to convene a "national reconciliation" conference for all the Palestinian factions in Cairo early next month. A senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip told The Jerusalem Post that his movement had indeed demanded that Abbas replace Tirawi and other PA security commanders in the West Bank to pave the way for ending the crisis with Fatah. "We welcome Abbas's decision to fire Tirawi, who was responsible for security coordination with the Israelis and who was behind the brutal measures against Hamas [in the West Bank," the official said. "We hope Abbas will take similar measures against all those security chiefs who chose to work with Israel and the Americans against our people." The official said his movement was now expecting Abbas to remove Diab al-Ali, commander of the PA's National Security Force in the West Bank, who is also known as a sworn enemy of Hamas. Last month al-Ali raised eyebrows when he threatened that his forces would not hesitate to use force to overthrow the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. "The timing of the decision to fire Tirawi was very bad," a Fatah official in Ramallah told the Post. "It appears as if President Abbas took the decision to appease Hamas." Another Fatah operative condemned Abbas's decision as "dangerous," claiming it would deepen divisions inside Fatah. "Many people in Fatah are unhappy with the decision," he said. "They believe that Abbas made a huge mistake." The Fatah official said he did not rule out the possibility that Abbas's decision was linked to his desire to extend his term in office beyond January 2009. "Some are talking about a secret deal between Abbas and Hamas that allows him to remain in power after his term expires next January," he said. "Hamas wants the heads of the security commanders in the West Bank in return for agreeing to the extension of Abbas's term. This doesn't look good." A senior PA official denied the charges, saying the decision had nothing to do with Hamas's demand for the dismissal of Tirawi and other commanders. The official said that the decision was taken because Tirawi had refused to report to the PA government of Salaam Fayad in the West Bank. According to the official, the decision was taken in the context of the US-backed efforts to reform the PA security forces by reducing their number. He added that the proposed reforms call for merging Tirawi's General Intelligence Service with the rival Preventative Security Force and turning them into a single force that reports directly to Fayad's government.