27 April 2005

The Palestinian Authority outlined plans on Tuesday to take immediate control of all land and property in the Gaza Strip vacated by Israeli settlers after their departure from the territory this summer. Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Abbas named a tough new commander for Palestinian internal security who helped lead a crackdown on Islamic militants in the 1990s, officials said.

Hours after the announcement, two Qassam rockets exploded in the Israeli city of Sderot next to the Gaza Strip after nightfall, witnesses said.  A spokesman of the Israeli rescue service said there were apparently no casualties.

Speaking after a meeting of his Cabinet designed to prepare for this summer's historic pullout, Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei said the government would not allow anyone to profit personally .

"We are preparing both at the administrative and security levels to take control of the situation on the ground," Qorei said.

The Palestinian Authority would "take control of all the land, and all issues concerning private property will be examined by a special tribunal." Qorei also warned anyone tempted to try and buy a house directly from one of the 8,000 settlers that such a transaction would be considered illegal.

"Any purchase by Palestinians or a third party of lands to be evacuated or on which settlements are built will be considered illegal," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has predicted that the pullout, expected to start in July or August, will be followed by widespread looting.

The Palestinians are determined to prove Sharon wrong, with one Cabinet member revealing that several plans drawn up to deal with the aftermath of the withdrawal have already drawn up by ministerial commissions.

In an interview published in Tuesday's Jerusalem Post, Israeli President Moshe Katsav said he would like to see the houses remain in one piece but he accused the Palestinians of playing games over the coordination.

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Mohammad Dahlan angered Sharon's government recently by suggesting that there would be no coordination unless Israel drops its plans to continue controlling the border between Gaza and Egypt.

"The Palestinians are playing with the [coordination] issue," Katsav said.

"If the Palestinian Authority is open to coordination, there will be coordination. If not, I know Ariel Sharon is determined to got through with it without coordination."

Abbas himself has said that he is in favor of the pullout being coordinated.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said he believed Abbas was a man to do business with.

However he said that he wanted to see more concrete results from Abbas's reform drive which saw him recently pension off the heads of the security services.

"We still have to give a chance to this process because Abu Mazen's intentions are heading in the right direction. But it is not enough - we must see results," Mofaz told army radio.

Taking his security reform program a step forward, Abbas appointed Rashid Abu Shbak as head of preventive security, which is meant to monitor political groups and track down collaborators with Israel.

Abu Shbak, a senior officer in the ruling Fatah movement once jailed by Israel, was previously the head of preventive security in Gaza. He was a deputy to local strongman Mohammad Dahlan in a 1996 crackdown on militants.

Abbas also appointed two deputies to Abu Shbak. Ziyad Habalreh will be in charge of the Preventive Security Service in the West Bank, and Suleiman Abu Moutlaq will run the Gaza branch.

But in the latest unrest, a Palestinian driver ran over and killed an Israeli at an army checkpoint in the West Bank late Monday before soldiers shot him dead, witnesses said.

Palestinian witnesses said a Palestinian taxi driver ran over the Israeli after dark at a dimly lit checkpoint near the West Bank city of Hebron, killing him. They said Israeli soldiers later shot the driver dead.

The Israeli Army declined to comment except to say the incident was under investigation. Israel Radio said no weapon was found in the Palestinian car, and the driver had no known links to militant groups.

Separately, the PA shut down the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt for several hours to protest Israel's use of an X-ray chamber that allegedly gives off high radiation during security checks of Palestinians.

The PA repeatedly asked Israel to stop using the chamber, but Israel is still forcing travelers to pass through the device, said Salim Abu Safia, the Palestinian director general of border terminals. - Agencies