Olmert praises Abbas's stern stand against Hamas

Olmert praises Abbas's stern stand against Hamas. Chief Editor of the London based al-Quds al-Arabi, warns Abbas that he is sliding towards becoming another General Lahd, in reference to General Antoine Lahd of the South Lebanese Army

"NAZARETH, LONDON, (PIC)-- While the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has not been so generous towards PA President Mahmoud Abbas in terms delivering promises, he has been so generous with praise. Meanwhile a Palestinian commentator warned Abbas of becoming another Lahd.

Olmert spoke of a "tangible change" in Abbas's policies as he has started to "sternly confront Hamas and took steps that he did not in the past."

Olmert also praised the so called "emergency government" of Salam Fayyad adding that "if this government fights terrorism [Palestinian resistance], then it will be possible to dramatically accelerate the implementation of international resolutions."

He also said that he is going to release 250 Fatah prisoners to reinforce the moderate trend within Palestinian society.

Meanwhile, Abdul-Bari Atwan, a Palestinian renown political commentator and Chief Editor of the London based al-Quds al-Arabi, has warned Abbas that he was sliding towards being another General Lahd, in reference to General Antoine Lahd of the South Lebanese Army which collaborated with the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon between 1983 and 2000.

He pointed out in his editorial on Friday that Israel is already dealing with Abbas on this basis and said: "Most of the actions of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, are in the direction of unprecedented subservience to the United States and Israel and without any contemplation of the effect of this on the Palestinian cause."

He also accused Abbas of taking haphazard decisions since the success of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the fall of the security authority of the "warlords and the president's office."

Atwan warned Abbas that the Israeli occupation government could see his (Abbas's) loss of strategic vision and is dealing with the "Ramallah authority" on a security level only taking advantage of the state of division the Palestinians are living.

He added that Abbas, now, has a personal grudge against Hamas and that is the only explanation for his recent comments about Hamas and alleged links to al-Qaida, an accusation which "gives justification for all previous and future Israeli massacres of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

He also quoted two prominent Palestinian legal experts, who are not affiliated with or supporters of Hamas, and who were of the opinion that Abbas's decrees and his emergency government were illegal and that the only legal government was the Palestinian unity government which was sacked by Abbas.

He criticized Abbas's use of the PLO's Central Council instead of the elected PLC and added that Abbas's policies with regard to salaries and the use of Karm Abu Salem border crossing instead of Rafah only serve the Israeli occupation.

He called on Abbas not to continue on this slippery slope saying that "We do not want to see President Abbas turning into another General Lahd."

He ended his editorial with: "Palestine is not the [personal] property of Abbas, and the Palestinian cause should not be hostage to him. He [Abbas] should remember that all those who allied themselves with America and Israel met a sad end and he will not be different.""

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The editorial of Abdul-Bari Atwan, in Arabic, was posted here yesterday. Scroll down about 15 posts to find it.