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Last update - 13:12 27/07/2007
Abbas vows to fully implement report on Fatah defeat in Gaza
By Reuters

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Friday to fully implement the recommendations of a committee that investigated the conduct of those Fatah leaders who lost the Gaza Strip to Hamas Islamists last month.

Receiving a 200-page report by senior party officials and security chiefs, Abbas said: "Rest assured that we will take this report as it is ... and implement it in its entirety."

A senior presidential aide, Nabil Amr, said the report found the Fatah security forces in Gaza were hobbled by nepotism, infiltrated by hostile elements and weakened by taking recruits motivated simply by making a living rather than deep conviction.

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Amr, who was on the 9-member panel that conducted hundreds of hours of interrogations of Fatah commanders, told a news conference: "We insist on drawing lessons from this experience and making it a true first step toward real reform."

On Thursday, Abbas accepted the resignation of his national security adviser Mohammad Dahlan. Absent for medical treatment while Hamas swept his secular, Fatah-run forces from their bases in his native Gaza, Dahlan disappointed U.S. sponsors who aided his forces and saw him as a tough bulwark against the Islamists.

Abbas and Fatah officials said on Thursday that Dahlan would not himself face disciplinary action. But a senior member of the inquiry committee said some 60 Fatah security officers, up to the rank of brigadier, would face courts martial shortly.

Others have already been demoted, Amr said.

He added that, "Some Palestinian security officials gave misleading information to the leadership. There were imprecise evaluations of events in Gaza before and during the incidents."

The report itself was not made public but Amr said it criticized a lack of coordination among security forces during the fighting in June that left more than 100 dead and saw Fatah men abandoning key posts, including Abbas' own Gaza compound.

"There was no field command. That was terrible," Amr said. "An officer cannot be left to work alone on the ground."

Though he did not spell out that it was Hamas which was believed to have penetrated agents into the security forces, Amr said a "state of infiltration" of those forces had come about because of "random recruitment", among other problems.

He also said the report found that security officials failed to obey instructions from Abbas that they take measures to forestall a possible "coup" by Hamas before fighting broke out.

Senior Fatah officials have appeared anxious to shield Abbas himself for any blame for the debacle in Gaza.

But senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the report showed precisely that: "President Abbas should admit his responsibility before the Palestinian people because he is the commander-in-chief of the security services, which the report shows were responsible for the attack on Hamas and the people."

He said the report also bore out Hamas' accusations that the Fatah-run security forces have been riddled with corruption.

A week of bloodshed saw Hamas take charge of all of Gaza and the coastal enclave's 1.5 million people. Fatah still controls the West Bank, which is home to 2.5 million Palestinians.

Abbas dismissed an elected, Hamas-led government and appointed a new cabinet led by Prime Minister Salam Fayad, which has secured an end to international sanctions imposed on its Hamas predecessors and is working with the Israeli government to secure concessions in the West Bank.

The Gaza Strip, in contrast, remains all but cut off from the rest of the world, shunned by Israel, the West and Abbas.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Abbas again said he would not talk to Hamas until they gave up control of Gaza and said he planned to decree a change in electoral rules that, in any future ballot, might hamper the Islamists' chances of repeating their parliamentary election victory of last year.

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  1.   The quisling dictator`s purge has begun ! 13:54  |  lakshmi 27/07/07
  2.   Amr and Abbas are also corrupt 13:59  |  Fatah 27/07/07
  3.   ABBAS COULD TEACH OLMERT 15:30  |  Mitchell 27/07/07
  4.   Who is the leading the reform? 16:40  |  Palestinian 27/07/07
  5.   Yes, but . . . 17:09  |  Mark Lincoln 27/07/07
  6.   Acts like a dictator, talks like a dictator, chances 17:11  |  Mark Lincoln 27/07/07
  7.   Defeat 20:18  |  P. J. Casey 27/07/07
  8.   Hopfully his words turn into actions 20:29  |  Rami 27/07/07
  9.   He should resign 23:27  |  emad matahin 27/07/07
  10.   When it is clear you ordered the lost battle what do you do? 03:22  |  Mark Lincoln 28/07/07
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