Senior resignation threatens Palestinian government

The Middle East:The resignation yesterday of Palestinian interior minister Hani al-Qawasmi threatens to topple the unity government formed in March under Saudi auspices. Mr al-Qawasmi stood down after 24 hours of street clashes in Gaza left eight Palestinians dead and 50 wounded.

The dead included two journalists from the pro-Hamas Falastin newspaper, shot on Sunday by members of the presidential guard, and two bodyguards of Maher Meqdad, a Fatah spokesman in Gaza. The latter were gunned down yesterday during a firefight between Hamas and Fatah elements after Hamas militiamen set fire to Mr Meqdad's office. Both factions had agreed to pull their gunmen off the streets under a ceasefire negotiated by Egyptian officers.

Mr al-Qawasmi said: "I resigned my position because I am not willing to be a purely decorative interior minister without authority . . . I reached the conclusion that the whole [ security] situation is not being dealt with seriously . . . From the beginning I faced obstacles that robbed the ministry of its powers and made my position empty . . . I told all the concerned parties, including the president and prime minister, that I must have full authority to be able to carry out my duties."

Responsibility for the multiple Palestinian security agencies is divided between the interior ministry and the president. Supervision of these bodies is exercised by the national security council, which is under the jurisdiction of President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.

Instead of working together under a proposed security plan, the factions have continued the feud, which has cost 400 lives over the past 15 months.

Mr al-Qawasmi initially tendered his resignation two weeks ago but it was rejected by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. He accepted it this time and assumed responsibility for the sensitive portfolio. Fatah is certain to protest at this move.

Protracted negotiations over the interior post postponed the formation of the unity government for more than eight months after secular Fatah and fundamentalist Hamas agreed to go into coalition. Mr al-Qawasmi, an independent academic and civil servant nominated by Hamas, was selected because it was thought he could bridge the gulf between the two parties.

Since he belongs to the premier family of Hebron in the West Bank and lives in Gaza, Mr al-Qawasmi also symbolises unity between the two wings of the Palestinian homeland.

Appointments to Palestinian governments must strike a balance between the two territories. Since Mr Haniyeh is from Gaza, it was necessary that the interior ministry, the second most important post, should have a close connection to the West Bank.

Mr al-Qawasmi was doomed to fail, however. Mr Abbas named Muhammad Dahlan, formerly head of preventive security in Gaza, his security adviser.

Mr Dahlan, a senior Fatah figure, cracked down hard on Hamas during the 1990s and is reviled by the movement's members. Fatah, which was in power from 1968 until 2006, when Hamas won a majority of seats in the legislature and formed a government, has refused to recognise that it no longer has the monopoly of political power.