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Last week, Arafat chaired a meeting with his top aides, including the National Security Council. During that meeting, Abu Alaa and Dr. Saeb Erekat, the minister in charge of negotiations with Israel, urged Arafat to introduce reforms and to furnish Abu Alaa with the authority he needs.
Brigadier General Jibril Rajoub, who was commander of the preventive security in the West Bank and is currently Arafat's advisor on security, asked the president to consolidate all the security forces under one person, as proposed by the roadmap. Arafat was furious.
He screamed at Rajoub and ordered him out of the room. Rajoub left the building through a side door avoiding the press. He refused to comment on what happened. A day later, shots were fired at his office. Some argued that those bullets could be the signal from Arafat's supporters to remind Rajoub who is the boss.
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Abu Alaa, however, tried to send signals of optimism. He said it was not too late for the declaration of a Palestinian state and that such a state could indeed be proclaimed before the end of next year.
To make this happen, Abu Alaa has to take a few steps and so does President Arafat. They both owe their people an explanation why no effort is made and why no progress is achieved. They both owe over 150,000 Israelis who demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday night an answer too.
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http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/Region2.asp?ArticleID=121217