Palestinians rage against their leaders Protesters trade gunfire with police

By Dan Ephron

JERUSALEM — Palestinian demonstrators burned government offices and traded gunfire with security officers in the Gaza Strip yesterday on the third day of demonstrations against what the protesters see as corruption and cronyism in Yasser Arafat’s administration.

The violence, which appeared to reflect the breakdown of law and order and a power struggle ahead of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, spread from Gaza City south to Khan Yunis and Rafah, two of the Strip’s poorest districts.

In the West Bank town of Ramallah, the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei was scheduled to take effect today, turning his Cabinet into a caretaker government and deepening the political crisis.

Qurei told colleagues yesterday he would not withdraw his resignation, despite pressure from Arafat.

"Technically speaking, starting tomorrow at noon we will all be lame ducks," said Ghassan Khatib, minister of social welfare in Qurei’s Cabinet. According to Palestinian law, the Cabinet will continue governing until Arafat names a new prime minister and a new Cabinet is approved.

Yesterday’s clashes marked the fiercest rebellion in years that Arafat has faced from his own people.

In Rafah, hundreds of gunmen opened heavy fire on a security precinct controlled by Mousa Arafat, who is Yasser Arafat’s nephew and his latest choice to head security in Gaza.

Some policemen fired back on the gunmen, many of whom were masked. Palestinian medics said at least 18 had been wounded, one critically, Reuters reported.

Hours earlier in Khan Yunis, protesters set fire to another security compound and marched through the town chanting, "Where are the reforms you promised, Arafat?"

As president of the Palestinian Authority, Arafat controls at least eight security agencies in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians frequently complain that the agencies are ineffective and that their leaders take kickbacks, run monopolies of key commodities, and appoint only friends and relatives to top positions.

When gunmen in Gaza abducted police chief Ghazi Jabali on Friday, fingering him as one of the biggest offenders, Arafat reshuffled positions and gave Mousa Arafat a key posting.

But the protesters, many of them renegades from Arafat’s own Fatah faction, insisted that Mousa Arafat was even more crooked than his counterparts. One senior security official, navy chief Juma Ghali, stepped down in objection to the appointment.

A leaflet issued by the Jenin Martyrs’ Brigade, a previously unknown group that appears to be organizing the protests in Gaza, described Mousa Arafat as "one of the corruption chiefs" and called on his bodyguards to stop protecting him.

"We will fight anyone who tries to get in our way, because our path is unalterable," said the leaflet, distributed in Gaza.

Behind the rhetoric, some Palestinians saw a jockeying for power among political rivals, including the former Gaza security chief, Mohammad Dahlan. Dahlan, who has been openly critical of Arafat, is widely expected to play a key leadership role in the strip after Israel’s withdrawal, which Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel wants to complete by the end of next year.

But even some government officials usually loyal to Arafat were incensed by his nephew’s promotion. "This is infuriating," Sufian Abu Zaida, a deputy minister in Qurei’s Cabinet, told Israel Radio. "This shows disregard for people and their opinions. This is intolerable disregard, and in Gaza thousands will rise up against the decision."

Khatib, the Palestinian Cabinet member, said that ministers at today’s meeting would discuss measures to ease the friction in Gaza. But he said Qurei’s resignation would make it difficult for the Cabinet to function.

Qurei, who was named prime minister just 10 months ago, handed Arafat his resignation letter Saturday morning. At a Cabinet meeting later that day, he said the Palestinian Authority had lost its ability to maintain law and order, and could not solve the economic and political problems facing Palestinians, according to Khatib.

"He read out the letter, and then we all had a chance to talk," Khatib said in an interview. "Most of us said [that] it was not a wise idea to step down and that it would leave a large power vacuum."

Qurei, a leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization almost since its founding in the 1960s, replaced Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister last September. Abbas clashed frequently with Arafat over powers and quit after just four months. One key dispute, whether control of the security agencies should be left in the hands of Arafat or transferred to the Cabinet, remained unresolved.

Qurei has had fewer public confrontations with Arafat, but Palestinian officials said yesterday that the outgoing prime minister felt stifled by Arafat’s centralist leadership style.

Israel has kept Arafat confined to his Ramallah headquarters for more than two years, a restriction that has hampered his ability to maneuver politically. But he is still considered more popular and influential than any other figure in the West Bank and Gaza.

Most Palestinians believe that Arafat has not personally been enriched by graft in the Palestinian Authority, according to polls conducted in the West Bank and Gaza, but that his administration is plagued by corruption.

"The Palestinian Authority is reaping what it sowed in terms of lawlessness and corruption," said Kayed al-Ghoul, a political analyst in Gaza and a member of the opposition Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

"This is a conflict among leaders of the security apparatuses who want to keep their prestige and powers," he said. "They do not want to lose the wealth and power they’ve accumulated."

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