Arafat-Mazen Dispute Delays Establishment of New Government

Arafat wants domestic security to remain under the Ministry of the Interior, which at the moment is run by Hani el-Hassan, who is known as loyal to Arafat. Opponents of Arafat argue that he does not want to see Dahlan in charge of security forces because of the success he achieved in Gaza and the efforts he expended on operations against the infrastructure of organizations such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

Arafat also reportedly rejected Dahlan’s offer that he would accept any seat in the Cabinet in the event the Interior Ministry is given to another candidate such as Nasir Yusuf, Taeeb Abdurrahman or Fethi Shakura rather than el-Hassan. It is believed that Arafat would only be able to accept Dahlan in the Cabinet as the "minister responsible for peace negotiations." He apparently demanded a guarantee from Mazen that a majority of new cabinet members would be selected from among those who had previously occupied positions in Arafat’s cabinets.

Kerim Balci / Jerusalem / ISRAEL