Fatah strongman Mohammad Dahlan on Tuesday warned that the West Bank was in danger of being overrun by Hamas, as his party decided to sever all ties with the Islamic group, a member of the group's central committee said.

In an interview with Reuters, Dahlan lashed out at Israel and the U.S. Earlier in the day, Dahlan branded Hamas' seizure of the Gaza Strip last week an "occupation."

"If serious reforms are not undertaken in the security forces it would be easy for Hamas to take over the West Bank," he said.

	Advertisement

Now cut off from his base in Gaza and speaking to Reuters at an apartment in the West Bank city of Ramallah, he said, however, that the strength of Hamas and over Fatah's fighters was no surprise, despite Fatah's apparently greater numbers.

"Palestinian Authority Chariman Mahmoud Abbas' men lacked the Islamists' aggressive dedication to a clear goal," he said. He also accused the United States of failing to make good on pledges of support, and Israel of deliberately blocking arms supplies to help divide Palestinians into a Hamas-run Gaza Strip and Fatah-controlled West Bank.

Of the West Bank, he said: "It would be very easy for a few people who have a goal to succeed over a large army that does not have a goal and does not have proper weaponry."

He argued, however, that Hamas was losing popular support by its actions in Gaza and would find that support further eroded by having to run the territory. Hamas "fell into a trap" laid by Israel, he said.

Dahlan, who was still recovering from the knee surgery that kept him out of his native Gaza during the fighting, insisted he had no personal ambitions beyond continuing in his present role.

But the 46-year-old former guerrilla, long a controversial figure in Fatah politics who now favours pinstripe suits, said Abbas must make changes.

"The Palestinian people have lost faith in both Hamas and Fatah. If Fatah does not use the opportunity to transform itself, then we're looking at a third party."

He supported an inquiry launched into the loss of control in Gaza, for which he and Abbas are blamed by some fellow leaders.

"I hope it comes up with real conclusions. Definitely mistakes were made. Each person should take responsibility for his mistakes.

"Even myself, I was gone for 50 days," he said of his surgery in Germany. "Certainly people will try to blame me because I wasn't there and I'm very close to [Abbas]."

Describing the loss of Gaza as an "earthquake" whose consequences Palestinians were still debating, Dahlan did not specify precisely what reforms he recommended and said he did not want to play a leading role in the process.

But he stressed the urgency of change after years of Israeli sanctions following an uprising launched in 2000. "That's clearer than ever to Abu Mazen," he said, referring to Abbas.

In tune with a prevailing air of dismay among Fatah leaders in Ramallah, Dahlan sounded pessimistic and saw no early accommodations with Israel - "there is no political horizon".

But he believed the gloom would pass. Recalling his years in Israeli jails in the 1980s, he said: "There were days when I wished I were dead. But those days, too, passed."

Fatah Central Cmte. votes to sever ties with Hamas
Earlier on Tuesday, the Fatah Central Committee decided to sever ties with Hamas in a West Bank meeting.

"The Fatah Central Committee decided today not to conduct any kind of contact, dialogue or meetings with Hamas unless it ends its military coup in Gaza and restores the situation to normal," Fatah Central Committee member, Azzam al-Ahmed, said. "Fatah will have no relationship with Hamas on any level."

Meanwhile Monday, the Hamas cabinet held its first meeting since the group seized control of the Strip, and prominent Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya called for renewed talks with Fatah

"We are shocked and surprised by the voices forbidding discussions with us, while they enter discussions with Israel," said al-Haya. "We are still prepared for a brotherly serious and responsible national dialogue."

Ezra: Barghouti should be released in order to aid Abbas
Environment Minister and former senior Shin Bet official Gideon Ezra called Tuesday for the release of imprisoned Fatah-Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti in order to support Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

In an interview with Israel Radio, Ezra maintained that "Abbas is lacking support." Referring to jailed senior Fatah leaders, many of whom enjoy wide support in the West Bank, the minister said, "if these people are in prisons, they must be freed. I would have freed Barghouti a while ago. Abbas needs able leaders in addition to [current Prime Minister] Salam Fayyad."

Tourism Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch opposed the release of Barghouti, calling him a "despicable murderer who murdered and was sentenced to dozens of life sentences."

This does not mark the first time Ezra has proposed the release of Barghouti. Previously, the minister called for the Fatah leader's release in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit and a pledge to continue the cease-fire.

Ezra had said that Barghouti's release could reduce terror and strengthen Fatah as a moderate factor.

Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences in Hadarim Prison, released a statement from prison Monday in which he demanded that Fatah's leadership in the strip be replaced with other operatives currently in the region.

Barghouti called the heads of all Fatah security organizations in the Strip to be replaced.

Barghouti, Fatah execs urge Dahlan removal
A group of senior Fatah officials from the West Bank recently began promoting an initiative aimed at persuading Abbas to remove his national security adviser and associate, Mohammed Dahlan. Jailed former commander of Fatah's Tanzim force, Marwan Barghouti, is among those urging the change.

The officials, all belonging to Fatah's Revolutionary Council, are demanding Dahlan's removal due to what they perceive as his failure to engage Hamas militarily in the Gaza Strip and prevent the organization from ousting Fatah from power there. In the last few days, Hamas has completed a bloody takeover in the Gaza Strip leaving dozens of people dead.

Palestinian sources said that the subject came up at a meeting of 20 council members in Ramallah on Sunday. According to sources, some of the council members said they believed that Dahlan should be relieved of his duties as part of Fatah's efforts to regain strength on the Palestinian street.

Among those attending the meeting were Jibril Rajoub, Ahmed Ghanem, Mohammed al-Horani, Samir Shehada, and other prominent Fatah members. "We hope that Dahlan will be removed," one of the participants said. "We hope this will help stop the atrocities that Hamas is perpetrating in the Gaza Strip.

Dahlan is among those responsible for this debacle, and even his own men are saying that he had deserted them along with Fatah's top-brass in the strip."