Palestinian inquiry blames Arafat for anarchy

[Gimel]

A Palestinian Legislative Council investigation into the reasons for the chaos in the Palestinian Authority found that the main reason for the anarchy is that the PA and its leader, Yasser Arafat, have failed to make a clear political decision to end it.

The report also calls for an end to Qassam rocket fire into Israel and attacks inside Israel, the resignation of the members of the Qureia government and general elections.

"The main reason for the failure of the Palestinian security forces and their lack of action in restoring law and order," says the report prepared by the five-member PLC committee, "is the total lack of a clear political decision and no definition of their roles, either for the long term or the short."

The PLC panel last month interviewed dozens of people, ranging from Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia to leading commanders of security forces, as well as Fatah activists from all over Gaza. The testimony is strikingly frank, and includes charges that the PA leadership failed to build state institutions so it ended up using clan mechanisms instead of the law to deal with out-of-control armed factions.

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