Last update - 00:00 15/04/2007
Abbas orders formation of Palestinian national security council
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas issued a presidential order Sunday on the formation of a national security council, which he intends to head.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh will serve as Abbas' deputy on the council, which is being formed on the basis of understandings reached between Abbas and Haniyeh in order to restore order in the PA.
The council will be charged with forming and planning the Palestinian security strategy, and will also be responsible for the PA's "security negotiations and general security."
The Palestinian foreign, interior, justice ministers will all serve on the council, alongside the Palestine Liberation Organization's chief negotiator, security advisor Mohammed Dahlan, and the commanders of the intelligence and national security organizations.
The council will formulate a joint working plan for the various security forces that belong to the government and to the chairmanship, although the order does not mention its relationship to or authority over Hamas' operational force.