Fatah leader slammed over statements release on Al-Jazeera

Thursday June 28, 2007 17:18 by George Rishmawi - IMEMC News

Senior Fatah leader, Hani Al-Hassan, one of the founders of the movement and member of the central committee of Fatah was harshly slammed by other Fatah officials and leaders following an interview he gave to Al-Jazeera satellite channel during which he accused a group of Fatah leaders of being part of a plan set by an American general aimed at destroying Hamas.

Hani Al-Hassan

Al-Hassan, who was the senior advisor for the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said what happened in Gaza is a defeat for General Keith Dayton’s plan, and not a defeat for Fatah.

Dayton has been stationed in Jerusalem after Hamas won the Palestinian Parliamentary elections in January 2006, in bid to destroy Hamas.

Al-Hassan accused some of Fatah leaders, hinting to Mohammad Dahlan, of being followers of the Americans and the Israelis and that they have received money from the United States to crack on Hamas.

Palestinian media sources said that Abbas dismissed Al-Hassan from his post as his advisor over his comments.

On the other hand, Fatah leader Samir Mashharawi in the West Bank harshly slammed Al-Hassan saying that he has collaborated with Hamas to carry out a coup, referring to Hamas’ military control over the Gaza Strip after clashes with Fatah and the Palestinian Security forces in early June.

Mashharawi added that Fatah has information that Al-Hassan has informed the head of Hamas’ politburo Khaled Masha’al of a possible crack down on Hamas one month ago, and asked them to act to prevent this crack down.

Hussein Al-Sheikh, secretary General of Fatah in the West Bank told a press conference that Al-Hassan does not represent Fatah and demanded President Abbas to take legal measures against him.

Al-Hassan also said that Hamas was not expected to sit and wait for Dayton’s plan to be implemented but added that they have pushed the envelop too far. He said that 95 percent of Fatah was not part of Dayton’s plan and that they will never accept to be part of such a plan.

Al-Hassan also affirmed the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority and slammed Hamas’ military control over the Gaza Strip and called for dialogue between Fatah and Hamas and the other Palestinian factions in order to raise the level of the Palestinian demands making use of the “Israeli and American defeat,” in the region.

palestine | palestinian politics | news report george at imemc dot org