Fatah: Fayad is plotting to replace Abbas

Khaled Abu Toameh
JPost
11 November 09

Fatah officials in the West Bank have accused Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad of quietly staging a "bloodless coup" against PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

Meanwhile, Azzam al-Ahmed, a prominent Fatah figure closely associated with Abbas, declared that Fatah had never recognized Israel's right to exist and would never do so. "Fatah is a liberation movement," he said. "Fatah cares only about the interests of the Palestinian people."

Ahmed's remarks came in response to charges by Hamas and other Palestinian factions that Fatah had not gained anything after its leaders signed the Oslo Accords with Israel. The remarks also came amid increased tensions between Fatah and the prime minister.

The Fatah officials claimed that Fayad was seeking to replace Abbas, with the help of the US and some EU and Arab countries. The allegations were made during a series of meetings of Fatah representatives in Ramallah over the past few days.

Fatah's Central Committee and Revolutionary Council, the faction's two most significant bodies, have been holding daily meetings since Thursday, when Abbas announced that he had "no desire" to run again for president. On Sunday night, members of the Revolutionary Council held a stormy and tense meeting in Ramallah, where some members launched a scathing attack on Fayad and accused him of paving the way for a "bloodless coup" against Abbas.

The London-based Palestinian daily Al-Quds al-Arabi reported that several Fatah representatives had also criticized Fayad's latest plan for establishing a state within two years, because he had not consulted with them about it in advance. One senior Fatah official was quoted as saying that Fayad's plan appeared to be linked to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's "economic peace" initiative.

The official said that the Revolutionary Council considered Abbas to be the only and most suitable candidate to run in the presidential election, slated for January 24.
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