Gunmen burned down offices of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority in Gaza yesterday, as anger spread over the Palestinian leader's overhaul of his security forces that many saw as falling short of genuine reform.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Arafat met Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia over the political crisis that erupted over the continuing violence in Gaza and Qureia's attempt to resign as head of the Palestinian government.
"I totally reject your resignation and consider it nonexistent," Arafat told Qureia at a meeting yesterday, according to Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat. Qureia told his Cabinet on Saturday he was firm in his decision to quit.
Dozens of militants belonging to an extreme offshoot of Arafat's Fatah movement stormed an office building in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis shortly after midnight to protest Arafat's appointment of his cousin, Moussa Arafat, as chief of security.
One security guard was wounded in a gun battle with the militants, who seized control of the building, stole weapons, and burned two offices and several cars parked nearby, witnesses and officials said.
Moussa Arafat's appointment was part Arafat's reforms to his security forces, as demanded in the "road map" peace plan sponsored by the US and supported by Egypt.
However, members of Arafat's own Fatah movement were infuriated, accusing Moussa Arafat of being a symbol of the corruption and cronyism of the Palestinian Authority.
Dissent also spread to the security forces when navy chief Gomma Ghali, a strong Arafat supporter, handed in his resignation in protest over Moussa Arafat's appointment. His resignation, and those of two other senior security officers on Friday, have not been accepted, however.
Despite the unhappiness at the appointment, Moussa Arafat took control of the security forces at a handover ceremony in Gaza City yesterday, saying he was prepared to fight all "potential enemies," and would ignore the protests.
"I take my orders from His Excellency President Arafat. The one who appointed me is the only one who can ask me to quit my job," the new security chief said.
Moussa Arafat -- previously the head of the Palestinian intelligence services -- is known as a fierce commander, and completely loyal to Yasser Arafat. He was among the founders of Fatah in 1965.
In 1996, during a mass round up of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, Moussa Arafat shaved the heads and beards of the men he imprisoned to humiliate them.
Human rights groups accused him of torture.
Dissatisfaction with Arafat's reforms spread throughout the Palestinian territories, though violence was confined to the Gaza Strip.
"Arafat now is at a crossroads. Either he makes a revolution inside his authority or the Palestinian people will make a revolution against him, said Ahmed Jamous, a student at Ramallah's Bir Zeit University. "The people want elections and good government, not to be ruled by a group of corrupt thieves."
Qureia updated Arafat on Saturday's stormy Cabinet session, in which ministers raged over the reforms and demanded the prime minister and his Cabinet be given more authority, said ministers, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique