The face-off between Palestinian President Abbas and Mohamed Dahlan appears permanent with the latter forced out of politics altogether, writes Saleh Al-Naami The Palestinians cannot believe the events unfolding in front of their eyes. Mohamed Dahlan, member of Fatah's Central Committee who many believed would be the next Palestinian president because of his strong influence within Fatah (and strong international and regional backing), is about to exit the Palestinian political arena. There is a clear and persistent push by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas which is supported by the leadership of the group, namely Dahlan's peers on the Central Committee which is Fatah's most senior leadership body, to ostracise him and strip him not only of his role in the group but of Palestinian political life altogether. Abbas's camp accuses Dahlan of three transgressions: attempting to overthrow the incumbent Palestinian Authority (PA); illegal amassing of wealth; and direct incitement against Abbas. The first accusation is based on claims by the security forces of the government in Ramallah that they were able to disband military formations that Dahlan formed and armed surreptitiously in the West Bank. Indeed, tens of arrests were made against security officials who are believed to be Dahlan's recruits preparing to overthrow the PA when opportunity presented itself. Meanwhile, security forces also dissolved Dahlan's civilian apparatus in the West Bank by arresting his chief of staff and personal secretary, along with a number of senior civil servants who are known to be Dahlan loyalists. A senior Dahlan assistant said there is a sweeping campaign to fire Dahlan supporters, including Adham Abu Mudallah, Palestinian ambassador to Montenegro, Ahmed Hamamsha, director of grassroots organisations, and Youssef Eissa, deputy director of the Preventive Security Forces (PSF). Abbas even gave clear directives to fire any security personnel who previously served in the Gaza Strip and fled to the West Bank to avoid Hamas's rule. This decision is based in the general belief that all members of the security force who fled to the West Bank are Dahlan supporters, and hence should not be tolerated, even if this means that they face threats upon their return to Gaza. Upon their return to Gaza, many of them will face charges of murder during the unstable period that preceded Hamas consolidating power in the Gaza Strip. Abbas went further by freezing the salaries of hundreds of security personnel in Gaza who joined the security forces in 2005. To further complicate things for Dahlan, figures close to Abbas are talking about assassinations of people close to the late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat in 2004 and 2005, and claim that Dahlan was behind the murders. These include the death of Major-General Moussa Arafat, former chief of military intelligence who was also Arafat's nephew, who was killed in 2005. Also the assassination of Khalil Al-Zobon, an adviser to President Arafat, former director of Palestinian Television Hisham Mekki, and Mohamed Abu Shaaban, a lawyer and leading figure in Fatah. Abbas also succeeded in passing a resolution by the Central Committee banning Dahlan from attending its sessions until an investigation is complete. Meanwhile, Dahlan was fired as the group's media spokesman and replaced by his former ally Nabil Abu Rudeina. Fatah sources confirmed that Dahlan is also being investigated on allegations of corruption, the reasons for his wealth, and probing his great fortune in the West Bank and abroad, such as his real estate and financial investments in Dubai. Some are even sceptical about his allegiance to Fatah, accusing Dahlan of asking Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the Libyan president, to act as an intermediary with the head of Hamas's politburo Khaled Meshaal so the two could meet when Meshaal led a Hamas delegation to the Libyan capital last month. Meshaal unequivocally turned down the invitation. Abbas took all these measures although the investigative committee only met once to question Dahlan, which indicates that Abbas is intent on quashing any source of support for Dahlan in the coming phase. An embarrassing setback for Abbas, however, was that three of the four members of the investigative committee resigned, namely Abu Maher Ghoneim, Sakhr Basseesu and Othman Abu Gharbiya. Only Azzam Al-Ahmed remains. Some say that the reasons behind the resignations vary. Ghoneim, who headed the committee, believes the committee was formed to listen and not to investigate, while Basseesu -- who is originally from Gaza -- objected to the measures against Fatah members in Gaza. Abbas moved quickly to expand the committee's membership as he continued to take steps against those close to Dahlan. Dahlan's enemies inside Fatah took the opportunity to pounce on him, such as his nemesis Jibreel Al-Rajoub who previously served as chief of the PSF in the West Bank. Al-Rajoub did not let any opportunity pass without using it to incite against Dahlan, and in many conversations he defended the investigative committee, underlining that no one is above questioning. Dahlan has denied all the accusations against him, arguing that this campaign against him is an attempt by some people to cause problems between him and Abbas. In a bid to prevent Abbas and his circle from continuing to harass him, Dahlan said that he has a lot of information he can disclose that would indict others -- an indication to information that links Abbas and his close circle to grave corruption. In a move to pre-empt Dahlan from embarrassing the PA in Ramallah, and as proof that the PA is taking practical steps against corruption, it was revealed that Ramallah was investigating major corruption allegations against senior PA officials. Rafiq Al-Natsha, chief of the PA's Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), disclosed that he is referring corruption cases to a special court formed recently especially for this task. Al-Natsha told Al-Ahram Weekly that several senior officials have been jailed for not reporting public funds they were responsible for, asserting that investigations of senior officials will continue domestically and abroad, and would include staff of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) at home and overseas, as well as former and current civil servants. Al-Natsha urged anyone who has a complaint about someone "who carried out corrupt acts" or that has "documents which prove that someone misused public funds, they must present it to ACA which will review the documents and complaints, investigate them and take to court anyone who is proven to be involved in corruption." He added that his agency was prioritising cases that cannot be delayed, and that only incidents with clear proof and evidence of corruption are referred to court. The court, he said, has the final word on whether the accused is guilty or not. Al-Natsha continued that the committee does not have an estimate of how much in public funds was embezzled, but said that the accusations were immense. He also warned against rumours about cases of corruption. "We are investigating what happened to millions of dollars, but right now we cannot determine if these funds were misused or not because our work is not done yet and no conclusions have been reached," he stated. He cited an example of hundreds of properties belonging to the PA but registered under the names of individuals, who have confessed and agreed to register the land in the name of any official body that ACA decides. In this way, these lands were returned to the PA. Al-Natsha added that those who do not confess their crimes are placed in jail until the fate of the money under their control is revealed, as was the case with several civil servants at a certain municipality who were put in jail because they could not show where two million shekels ($650,000) of municipal funds went. They will remain in prison, he said, until they confess. The public prosecutor in the West Bank, Ahmed Al-Moghni, confirmed that some 80 corruption cases were referred to Al-Natsha's ACA, including ones involving very senior figures, and that some sitting cabinet ministers in Salam Fayyad's government are under investigation. Nehad El-Sheikhly, a Palestinian writer and political analyst, believes the maelstrom overtaking Fatah right now has wrecked any chance to revive the group and recover its ability to represent wide sectors of Palestinians. El-Sheikhly said that continuing to target Dahlan will end any support for Fatah in the Gaza Strip, where he is popular amongst Fatah ranks there. "Dahlan's supporters believe he was viciously betrayed by Abbas," he explained. "And that what he was put through precludes making the group popular in the Gaza Strip." El-Sheikhly asserted that the continued hounding of Dahlan proves that Abbas is no longer interested in recovering the Gaza Strip, since that would require complete cooperation among the ranks and cadres of Fatah. That is no longer an option after the Dahlan affair. Dahlan's margin of movement has been narrowed significantly and he seems to only have a single choice: exit the Palestinian political arena, since the geographic area in which he was allowed to operate -- the West Bank -- no longer welcomes him.
