GUSTAVE EIFFEL COULDN'T PROP UP FATAH:

Hamas war chief reveals his plans for Gaza peace: The man now controlling Gaza City talks exclusively to Mitchell Prothero about his plans (Mitchell Prothero, June 24, 2007, The Observer)

Abu Obieda sees the fighting as a failure by the Palestinian people on both sides of the political divide. 'We are not happy,' he said. 'I am not proud to have defeated and killed the men of Fatah. This is a shame on all Palestinians because we love each other.'

The problem, he explained, was a corrupt security regime led by the Fatah security chief, Mohammed Dahlan, who had led repeated attacks, arrests and executions of Hamas members over the past decade. Despite February's formation of a unity government of the two factions, Abu Obieda knew war between the two would come. He started planning even as the leaders tried to negotiate peace.

He said Israel 'forced us to this point, but we are not ready to do it again. People need help; they need jobs, money and police. They don't need fighting between brothers.'

Despite his months of planning for such a war, Abu Obieda was surprised by the speed of the victory: 'I expected it to take one month. That is what we planned for and trained for. But then at the beginning, all the Fatah commanders escaped their compounds in ambulances and left for Egypt. They left their men to die. Who could do that?'

At one battle, for a security compound - where his men later found weapons, ammunition and food that would survive a three-month siege - he listened on a radio to Fatah fighters on nearby rooftops begging their commanders for more ammunition that never came. 'They all had left,' Abu Obieda said. 'The Fatah fighters are brave but would you fight for a commander who left you alone to die for his war?'

He confirmed that some top Fatah officials with links to Dahlan were arrested and investigated. He insisted all had been released but admitted some summary executions happened during the fighting without authorisation.

'Hamas does not do that, but during the battle some men who were very hated for killing Hamas members were executed by the family members of their victims. We have put a stop to that, for it is wrong. Now any Fatah leader can return and will be safe.'

At a Friday sermon in a Gaza City mosque, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called for talks between Hamas and Fatah to heal the divisions, a suggestion that has so far been rejected by Fatah's president, Mahmoud Abbas, who denounced Hamas as terrorists.

'We forgive any Fatah official who wants to return and help us improve lives in Gaza,' he said. 'But 'Alafu' [the Islamic idea of forgiveness] can only be given once. If they do not stop their activities, then there will be no mercy.'

He admitted 'Alafu' will not apply to Mohammed Dahlan, currently in the West Bank. 'He can never come back here. Everyone in Hamas is ready for Dahlan to return, and the supporters of Dahlan who do anything will be met with force.'

The backing of America, Israel, the Europeans and the Arabs doesn't change the fact that Fatah is the weak horse. It's just more wasted time and effort.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 24, 2007 12:00 AM