Kesher Talk

Meet the new boss... same as the old boss: Members of the armed wing of Fatah have begun receiving monthly salaries from the new Palestinian Authority cabinet in an attempt to persuade them to lay down their weapons. In an interview with The Jerusalem Post (May 15), members of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank said they are each receiving $200 per month.

"We were told that the payments were from the new Palestinian cabinet," one of the group's members in Tulkarm told the Post. He said the money was being transferred through senior PA officials in the city. Sources close to the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin confirmed that members of the groups in these areas have also received funds over the past few weeks.

"The money is aimed at keeping these men under control," the sources said. "[PA Prime Minister Mahmoud] Abbas wants to make sure that these men would not revolt against him when and if he tries to disarm them." But the leader of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in Tulkarm, Malek Jallad, told the Post Thursday that he and his men would not give up their weapons.

posted by William @ 5/27/2003 08:05:57 AM