Well... this is Fatah we are talking about. I shudder to think what Olmert's response might be here.
Fatah Seeking Immunity for Wanted Terrorists
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
While Hamas is working on a trade involving kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit that they hope will gain the release of hundreds of Palestinian Authority terrorists currently imprisoned in Israeli jails, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah is seeking to keep the rest of the PA terrorists from going to jail in the first place.
According to an official in the PA, as reported by Arutz Sheva's Dalit Halevy, during at least two recent meetings between Israeli and PA officials, the PA side sought a moratorium on Israeli pursuit of wanted terrorists in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Riad Al-Maliki, Minister of Justice and Information in the Judea and Samaria-region PA government, said Monday that he foresees forthcoming Israeli guarantees that it will cease hunting down PA terrorists.
The reason he expects Israel to provide the guarantees, he explained, is that such a move will smooth the way for the implementation of the new PA's security plans. Those plans, designed to strengthen Fatah's hand in PA society, are generally agreed upon by Israel.
Maliki noted that the PA negotiators put the moratorium for wanted terrorists at the top of the agenda during the meeting last week between PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, PA Interior Minister Abd Al-Razek Al-Yahya and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. During their meeting, the PA officials and Barak discussed other security-related issues, as well, such as Fayyad's plans to collect weapons from the populace. Fayyad also raised the issue of ways in which Israel could strengthen the regime of Abbas and his emergency government, such as removing IDF checkpoints in Judea and Samaria.
Maliki also revealed that the head of the General Security Services (GSS), Yuval Diskin, met last week with the PA's Abd Al-Razek Al-Yahya. At that meeting, as well, according to Maliki, the central issue was the PA's moratorium request.
Operations Continue
The IDF, as of Tuesday morning, was still carrying out operations to capture or kill PA terrorists.
Soldiers apprehended 20 wanted terrorists on Monday night and early Tuesday morning. The arrests were made throughout Judea and Samaria. The captured enemy combatants were turned over to the GSS for interrogation.
PA negotiators put the moratorium for wanted terrorists at the top of the agenda.
During a joint military and GSS operation in Jericho on Monday, a wanted terrorist was shot and lightly wounded by Israeli forces. The injured man, Abdel Namer Muhammad Mahoud Rizak, was treated for his wounds at the scene by IDF medics and taken into custody. Rizak, 30 years old, was shot as he tried to escape.
Rizak has been on the run from Israeli special forces units for at least ten years. He is suspected of involvement in at least one terrorist attack.
PA Also Seeks Open Border With Egypt
At a meeting of the Ramallah-based PA governing body on Monday, members discussed the ways to solve the problem of thousands of PA residents "stuck" for more than a month at the Rafiach Crossing into Egypt. Fayed is to visit Egypt shortly, where he'll raise the issue of the "Rafiach refugees" in discussions with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The Rafiah Crossing was closed by Egypt in the wake of Hamas's successful coup against Fatah in Gaza, during which hundreds of Gaza Fatah supporters fled south.
Maliki said that the Egyptian suggestion that the PA residents return to Gaza by way of Kerem Shalom, inside pre-1967 Israel and bordering the Hamas mini-junta, was not acceptable to the PA. The official PA position, Maliki said, remains that the Kerem Shalom Crossing cannot serve as an alternative to the Rafiah Crossing for those PA residents leaving and entering Gaza.
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