Abbas orders consolidation of security services

4/14/2005 7:00:00 PM GMT

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered all Palestinian Security services to be placed under the authority of three main institutions; the National Security Forces, the Interior Ministry and the General Intelligence Agency.

"The implementation (of security reforms) has started and within a few days there will be only three security apparatuses (instead of a dozen) with new commanders who will be appointed soon," said Jibril Rajoub, security adviser to Abbas.

"Unifying the security services will help in restoring the rule of law and unify our effort to carry out reforms," Rajoub added.

Abbas has already informed all security organizations to provide him with lists of all their members, a Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity.

The United States and Israel have long demanded Palestinian leaders to unify their security services as a condition for reviving peace talks.

The security institutions will come under the authority of the Palestinian Interior Minister, Nasir Youssef, and will be headed by officials who will serve for a period of no more than four years.

The new order expands the duties of Youssef, who was appointed by Abbas as his security chief earlier this year. The minister continues to supervise his ministry as well as the National Security forces, which includes elite commando units and military intelligence.

According to the order, Youssef will be in charge of all contacts between Palestinian security agencies and foreign bodies, such as Israel and the U.S.

It was not immediately known who would be responsible for the General Intelligence.

Meanwhile, Abbas accused Israel of violating the truce after Israeli undercover soldiers shot dead a Palestinian fighter in the Balata refugee camp, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus.

Members of the Palestinian resistance group Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades vowed to avenge Ibrahim Smeri's death. Ala Sanekri, a local leader of the movement, said that "This assassination is a clear violation of the Israeli ceasefire".

Israeli officials claimed that Smeri, 23, has been plotting a shooting attack in Jerusalem.

Abbas told reporters that the killing was “a totally unjustified violation of the arrangements from Sharm el-Sheikh", while Rajoub accused "certain circles within Israel of looking for pretexts to carry out such actions to sabotage the truce".

Sharon and Abbas both reached a ceasefire agreement on February 8 at a historic summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Palestinian resistance groups also agreed last month at talks in Cairo to extend the truce until the end of the year.