Fatah's Central Committee Approves Palestinian Interior Minister Post
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2003/2003-08/095.html

RAMALLAH, Palestine, August 24, 2003 (IPC + Agencies) [Official PA
Website]- - The Central Committee of the Fateh movement approved Saturday
the appointment of Brigadier General Nasr Yousef, as the new Interior
Minister, and in charge of the security affairs in the Palestinian National
Authority.

Brig. Gen. Yousef, who was the former chief of Public Security Apparatus in
the Gaza Strip and West Bank, was approved by the Central Committee of Fateh
movement by 13 votes, without any objections, according to Dr. Zakariya Al
Agha, member of the Central Committee.

Dr. Al Agha rebuffed the claims of some Israeli media outlets about a
"political crisis" among PNA ranks and the resultant imminent resignation of
the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), saying that the
Interior Minister's position and Security Affairs Minister's position, held
by Mohammed Dahlan, are totally different positions, stressing that
appointing an Interior Minister doesn't cancel the role of the Security
Affairs Minister.

Dr. Al Agha also pointed out that the separation of the two positions is a
new step by the PNA to arrange the security affairs in the Palestinian
territories. He also asserted that the voting of the Interior Minister's
position wasn't rejected by any of the attending members of the Central
Committee.

On the other hand, Mr. Abbas Zaki, also a member of Fateh's Central
Committee, said that the committee considered itself in a state of constant
meeting, to deal with the grave situations the Palestinian people are going
through, in order to make the decisions befitting such situations.

Mr. Zaki accused the United States and the Quartet committee of "letting
Israel's aggressive hand loose against the Palestinian people, while only
giving advice to the Palestinian leadership."

"The Palestinians are about to enter the most dangerous stage in their
history, through the threats posed against them by the [Israeli] occupation.
The Israelis have wanted bloodshed and have been interested in deteriorating
the Palestinian internal affairs as well as fixing the Israeli occupation of
the Palestinian territories, after realizing that there's an international
consensus for implementing the 'Road Map' peace plan," Mr. Zaki said in an
interview with the Palestinian radio station, reported by Kuwait News Agency
(KUNA).

President Yasser Arafat has headed a meeting of Fateh's Central Committee on
Saturday, in which he discussed with the committee's members the latest
deteriorations in the Palestinian territories, following the grave Israeli
military escalations the past few days that led to the collapse of the
Palestinian ceasefire agreement "Al Hudna".

Fatah Movement is the largest Palestinian faction in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories, and considered to be the ruling party within the
Palestinian National Authority