Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas fired the top West Bank security chief Saturday and said he would retire hundreds of top officers, serving notice of a shakeup of security forces long demanded by the United States.
Abbas had been criticized for not moving fast enough to reform his "flabby security apparatus". The Palestinian Authority has 45,000 to 50,000 security officers on its payroll.
"We will not allow anyone to take the law into his own hands and sabotage our situation," Abbas said, criticizing the security services for not doing their job.
Abbas had come under mounting pressure at home to take action after "gunmen" shot up his offices and rampaged through Ramallah on Wednesday. They were loyal to West Bank security chief Ismail Jaber, who was relieved of his command Saturday. The local security chief in Ramallah, Younis Al-Aas, was also dismissed.
Abbas, in a meeting with intellectuals and civic leaders in the Ramallah region, said the PA would purge the ranks of the security and police forces of "criminals, thieves and corrupt elements."
"But we must distinguish between true patriots and criminals. The security apparatus didn't perform its duty as it should, so it was crucial to take a stand. We will not allow anyone to take the law into his own hands and sabotaged our situation."
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
