CIA begins training Palestinian officers [IMRA: Not according to original
plan]
By Amira Hass Ha'aretz 17 September 2002

[IMRA: When plans were first announced for the CIA, Egyptians and others to
train new troops of Palestinians, it was explained that these would be new
recruits to a new untainted Palestinian security services that would
ultimately replace the existing Palestinian security services. It appears
from the reports that veteran troops are being trained from existing
security organizations. It would also appear that, to make matters worse,
no individual screening is taking place.]

A training course for Palestinian Authority security officers got underway
yesterday in Jericho. The course is being run by a team of security experts
from the Central Intelligence Agency, Jordan and Egypt, and is taking place
at the Intercontinental Hotel in Jericho.

Jericho and Bethlehem are the only towns in the West Bank that have not been
reoccupied by the Israel Defense Forces. Security was tight around the
hotel, and journalists were not allowed entry.

"The session will be part of a training program with the goal of developing
the capabilities of the security services as part of the reforms launched by
the Palestinian Authority," head of West Bank preventive security, Zuheir
Manasra, said on Sunday.

The current course will last 20 days, after which, different groups will be
trained.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat gave his approval to the
training, despite the fact that, according to Palestinian sources, Israel
prevented 100 Palestinian officers from taking part.

According to Israeli sources, this is a very "preliminary" stage of a U.S.
plan to implement reforms in the Palestinian Authority. The program was
developed by a CIA team that spent several weeks in the region and met with
senior Palestinian officials.

Also involved in the plan were Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

As part of the reforms within the Palestinian Authority, the foreign
security experts are helping train Palestinian security services, which both
Israel and the United States accuse of not doing enough to prevent terror
attacks against Israel.

Officers from the West Bank preventive security service, headed by Zuheir
Manasra, were present at yesterday's course, in addition to those of the
Gaza Strip General Intelligence, headed by Amin al-Hindi. Palestinian
policemen and firemen also took part.

According to Rashid Abu Shabak, head of preventive security in the Gaza
Strip, the U.S. guaranteed the training program would be carried out as
planned, but did not impose upon Israel to let everyone participate. The ban
on letting officers take part in the course is not a personal one, but
rather aimed at certain organizations, such as the West Bank General
Intelligence, headed by Tawfik Tirawi.