Ahead of his meeting with President Abbas, PA interior minister vows to resign

Sunday May 06, 2007 16:21 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian Authority’s (PA) interior minister, Hani aL-Qawasmi, vowed Sunday to resign unless he is given authorities by President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian interior minister, Hani aL-Qawasmi

aL-Qawasmi’s vow came before a parliamentary session to discuss the obstacles he said ‘obstructing’ his efforts to restore security to lawless Palestinian territories.

Two weeks ago , the interior minister, submitted a resignation to the Palestinian cabinet, which in turn rejected it and asked aL-Qawasmi to stay in office, until a trilateral meeting between him, President Abbas and Prime Minister, Haniya is held.

Prior to his resignation, aL-Qawasmi launched a 100-day security plan, however, very little progress has been observed so far, as chaos and security lapses continue to rock the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

As of today, President Abbas is expected to meet with his Prime Minister Haniya in Gaza.

Spokesman of the Interior Ministry, Khaled Abu Helal, told reporters that aL-Qawasmi will attend the Abbas-Haniya meeting.

“The anticipated meeting will work on resolving outstanding problems that force the minister to resign, as a decision on the matter will be likely taken”, Abu Helal maintained.

Hamas’s senior political leader in exile, Moussa Abu Marzouq, had called on Abas to oust director of internal security, Rashid Abu Shbak, of Fatah, for ‘alleged’ obstruction of the interior ministry’s work.

The post of Abu Shbak was created by President Abbas amidst heightened Hamas-Fatah power struggle prior to the installation of the unity government coalition.

Chief of the Palestinian Preventive Security, Yousef Essa, has recently sent out a toughly-worded message to Prime Minister Haniya of Hamas, claiming that some Hamas leaders have ‘allegedly accused the preventive security of fueling chaos across the territories’.

After heated debates between Hamas and Fatah over who would be the interior minister, Al-Qawasmi, an independent academic, has joined the Hamas-Fatah-led coalition that was established by late February.

gaza strip | palestinian politics | news report rami at imemc dot org