Abbas security adviser steps down in Gaza

MIDDLE EAST:Former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan resigned yesterday as presidential security adviser six weeks after Hamas forces defeated his loyalists during a week of bloody clashes in the strip.

Although he cited ill health as the reason for stepping down, he did so on the recommendation of a commission established to look into the failure of his Fatah-dominated forces to prevail over Hamas's smaller formations.

President Mahmud Abbas has already dismissed a dozen Fatah officers held responsible for the loss of Gaza. Mr Dahlan was sharply criticised in Fatah circles for remaining in Cairo, where he was receiving medical treatment, rather than returning to Gaza to command his men. The debacle was not only a defeat for Mr Abbas but also for Gen Keith Dayton, the US officer responsible for training and equipping the presidential guard and for restructuring and consolidating Palestinian security and intelligence agencies. Mr Dahlan enjoyed close relations with Gen Dayton, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and Israeli officials, but was deeply disliked by many Palestinians.

Mr Dahlan, a Fatah legislator, was appointed presidential security adviser in March following the formation of the unity government. Hamas condemned this appointment because during the 1990s, when he was security boss in Gaza, his forces arrested and tortured senior figures in the movement.

His elevation undermined the authority of Hani Kawasmeh, an independent chosen as interior minister in the unity coalition, who quit after a few weeks in the post.

As a youth Mr Dahlan joined Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. He was active during the early days of the first intifada (1987-93) and was jailed several times by Israel. After deportation from the Palestinian territories in 1988, he moved to Arafat's headquarters in Tunis. He returned to Gaza in 1994 after the Oslo accords were signed.

Many Palestinians accuse Mr Dahlan of large-scale corruption.

Born in 1961 to a poor family in the Khan Younis refugee camp, he is reputed to have amassed a fortune while involved in al-Bahr, a monopoly created to control major aspects of the Palestinian economy.

It was recently reported that the authority had seized several million dollars from his bank accounts. His compound near the beach in Gaza city covers an entire municipal block.

Following the fighting in June, his home was looted by clansmen who had formerly been his allies. He is said to be continuing medical treatment in Germany.