Sunday, December 24, 2006

Bardawil charges Abbas with planning military coup against the government


"Gaza - Salah Bardawil, the spokesman of the Hamas-affiliated change and reform parliamentary bloc, on Sunday charged PA chief Mahmoud Abbas with impeding national dialogue and with planning military coup against the PA government.

Bardawil, in a press release, said that Abbas was preparing to topple the legitimate PA government using military force, citing the PA chief's constant hampering of national dialogue.

He drew the attention to the increasing deployment of presidential guards in the PA-run lands and to exploiting the constitutional court to issue rulings against the Hamas-led government.

The spokesman noted, however, that mediation efforts were being exerted by the Egyptians, the OIC, the PFLP and MP Mustafa Al-Barghouthi to return to dialogue with the aim of forming a unity government based on the national concord document.

Meanwhile, Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth said on Sunday that Israel had allowed Egypt and Jordan to supply Abbas' presidential guards with around 5,000 machineguns and millions of bullets.

The paper further said that the Israeli intelligence had advised Olmert to supply Abbas with money to purchase needed combat means for the presidential guards, which Olmert did through agreeing to channel 100 million dollars of PA frozen money to Abbas.

The PA chief is scheduled to visit Jordan on Monday to discuss recent developments with Jordanian officials.

For its part, the AMB, the armed wing of the Fatah faction, charged Abbas' entourage with diverting Fatah from its original path.

The AMB statement lashed out at those who criticized Farouk Kaddoumi, Fatah secretary general and PLO political department head, for refusing Abbas' call for early elections.

It heaped praise on Kaddoumi as one of the vanguards of Palestinian constants."

No comments: