Masri: Dahlan’s remarks verified what was revealed by Qaddoumi

[ 14/07/2009 - 04:54 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)--

Hamas lawmaker Mushir Al-Masri stated Monday that the remarks made by Muhammed Dahlan days ago about the ability of the Fat'h faction to control the Gaza Strip during two hours confirmed Fat'h leader Farouq Al-Qaddoumi’s statement about the involvement of Dahlan and Mahmoud Abbas in the assassination of Palestinian resistance leaders.

MP Masri added that such remarks confirmed that the confessions made by members of the spy rings arrested before or after the Israeli war on Gaza (in January 2009) about providing Israel through the PA with information about targets in Gaza were true.  

The lawmaker described the attempts made by Dahlan to reappear in the Palestinian political arena and his threats about taking control over Gaza in cooperation with Israel as “desperate and failed attempts.”

Dahlan had said, on the sidelines of a memorial service held for elements of PA security forces who were killed in clashes with Al-Qassam fighters in Qalqiliya, that it would not take more than two hours if Fat'h wanted to take over Gaza according to a simple security plan.  

In another context, Fat'h leader Hosam Khader stated Tuesday that his Movement's struggle history is used for the protection of personal interests and privileges of big leaders and not for the sake of the Palestinian people and their cause.

In a press statement to Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, Khader said that the people who destroyed Fatah over the past 20 years were those who possessed considerable financial means through the positions they held and the millions they looted from the Palestinian people.

He stressed that there is a remarkable alliance between corrupt officials within Fat'h who move in all directions using their posts and money to complete the destruction of Fatah and convert it from a national liberation movement into a political party having a marginal role in the national file.

Qaddoumi drops a bombshell

Mohammed Mari'i | Arab News

July 15, 2009

RAMALLAH, West Bank:

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Tuesday harshly criticized Farouk Qaddoumi, secretary-general of Fat'h, for accusing President Mahmoud Abbas of involvement in the alleged poisoning of Yasser Arafat.

The PLO said in a statement that as part of Qaddoumi’s efforts “to disrupt the sixth convention of Fatah, he made hysterical remarks to reporters during his visit to Amman in the last two days.”

Qaddoumi said that Abbas and Fat'h strongman Mohammed Dahlan were involved in poisoning Arafat. He said that the minutes of a joint Palestinian-Israeli-American meeting held in early March 2004 proved that the two were involved in the poisoning of Arafat and the assassination of Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi.

Qaddoumi said the meeting was attended by Abbas, Dahlan, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, his Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, and an American delegation led by William Burns.

Those who attended the meeting planned to assassinate a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders, Qaddoumi said, adding that the minutes of that meeting were sent to him by Arafat himself.

The Fat'h official said that he was coming out with the disclosure now “to warn Palestinian factions of what is being hatched against them.” The PLO said that “these allegations are the invention of a man who has lost political and psychological balance.”

Arafat’s death in November 2004 in a military hospital near Paris triggered rumors that he had been poisoned. French doctors said the 75-year-old died from a “massive brain hemorrhage” but could not explain what prompted it. Arafat’s widow, Suha, refused to allow an autopsy.

Accusations have since been routinely directed at the Israeli government which saw Arafat as an obstacle to peace, putting him under house arrest in Ramallah and allegedly talked of eliminating him. Israel has strongly denied any involvement in his death.

Arafat became ill in October 2004 and was flown from his Ramallah headquarters to France. He died a few weeks later.

Arafat is seen as a national hero and was the first to give the Palestinian cause a legitimate voice on the world stage. His photograph still adorns homes, offices and public buildings in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank.