The Palestinians: Possible Coup?

Khaled Abu Toameh
Hudson New York
10 December '10

Until recently, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas used to claim that Hamas was plotting to overthrow his government in the West Bank. Abbas's claim was aimed at justifying the massive crackdown that his security forces have been waging against Hamas supporters in the West Bank.

But in recent weeks Abbas's top aides have also begun talking about another threat to his government – this time from some Fatah leaders.

According to the aides, one of these Fatah leaders, Mohammed Dahlan, has been plotting to topple the Palestinian president. Dahlan is a former security commander who was thrown out of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Ironically, Hamas claimed then that it had to launch a pre-emptive coup in the Gaza Strip after noticing that Dahlan, with the help of Americans and Europeans, was conspiring to overthrow its government.

Dahlan and dozens of his supporters have since moved to live in the West Bank.

Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah claim that the overly-ambitious Dahlan has recently been plotting to replace Abbas as president – a charge dismissed by Dahlan as a "joke."

Dahlan's associates say that Abbas is obviously suffering from severe paranoia because of his belief that too many parties are planning to topple him. They note that similar charges have also been leveled against other senior Fatah officials, including Nasser al-Qudwa, a nephew of Yasser Arafat, and Ahmed Qurei, a former prime minister and veteran Fatah operative.

All three Fatah leaders have reportedly been targeted by Abbas for daring to criticize him and his policies in closed and public forums. The three have been punished in different ways by the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah.

(Read full article "The Palestinians: Possible Coup?")

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