Hamas terrorist threatens Palestinian leader

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

TEL AVIV – Any agreement signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority will not be recognized by the vast majority of the Palestinian people and will not be respected by terrorist groups here, a senior terrorist leader claimed to WND in an exclusive interview yesterday.

Muhammad Abdel-Al, spokesman and a top leader of the Hamas-allied Popular Resistance Committees terror group in Gaza, also took the occasion of the interview to threaten PA President Mahmoud Abbas against attempting to stay in office after his term expires in January.

"We warn everyone of the consequences of any attempt to give Abbas legitimacy after January 9th, because it will have very bad consequences toward Abbas, who in six weeks will not have any authority over the Palestinian people," he said.

"We want the U.S. and the international community to know [Abbas] represents at the maximum himself and the people in the Muqata and not beyond the walls of the Muqata," said Muhammad Abdel-Al.

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The Muqata is the main headquarters of Abbas' U.S.-backed Fatah party. It serves as a kind of Palestinian White House.

"We will not obey any instructions," continued Abdel-Al, whose Committees is responsible for scores of deadly suicide bombings, shootings, rocket attacks and roadside bombings against both Israeli and American targets.

"Any agreement with Israel is signed only with Abbas and not the Palestinian people, who support resistance as they said in their decision in the last election, when we gave two-thirds of the vote to the Islamic resistance (Hamas.)"

"Staring on the ninth of January, Abbas won't be anymore the PA president. In this case, any agreement he signs will have no significance," he told WND.

Abbas' term in office expires Jan. 9, although he has said he will attempt to hold onto power longer. The rival Hamas terror group has announced it will not recognize Abbas' status as PA president after that date.

"Abbas will lose his legitimacy and credibility after January 9," said Moussa Abu Marzuk, a top Damascus-based Hamas leader.

A number of Hamas leaders told WND that at midnight Jan. 9, Abbas' picture will be removed from all official Palestinian government institutions in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Hamas last year violently seized control of Gaza from Fatah after Abbas unilaterally dismantled the democratically elected Hamas-led Palestinian government. Hamas has warned it may attempt an eventual takeover of the West Bank as well.

The information comes after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced during a visit to the White House yesterday he will seek to continue U.S.-backed negotiations initiated at last November's Annapolis summit, which seek to create an Abbas led Palestinian state.

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"The prime minister reiterated his commitment to try to reach understandings with the Palestinians in accordance with the Annapolis principles," Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said during the White House visit.

"He expressed his firm belief that this process must continue and that the incoming US administration and next Israeli government must continue the historic process that started in Annapolis."

Israel, Palestinians in secret talks

Last week, informed Israeli and Palestinian sources told WND that despite media reports painting a dismal picture of negotiation prospects, Israel and the PA are still quietly working to conclude a major agreement before President Bush leaves office.

Aside from committing to a major Israeli West Bank withdrawal, the agreement would also grant the PA permission to open official institutions in Jerusalem but would postpone talks on the future status of the capital city until new Israeli and U.S. governments are installed next year.

A top source said the PA requested that as part of the understandings, the U.S. would threaten sanctions for any new Jewish construction in the West Bank.

Israel recaptured the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War. The territory, in which about 200,000 Jews live, is tied to Judaism throughout the Torah and is often referred to as the biblical heartland of Israel.

The book of Genesis says Abraham entered Israel at the West Bank city of Shechem (Nablus) and received God's promise of land for his offspring.

He was later buried with the rest of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs, except for Rachel, in Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarchs. The West Bank's Hebron was site of the first Jewish capital.

The nearby West Bank town of Beit El – anciently called Bethel, meaning "house of God" – is where Scripture says the patriarch Jacob slept on a stone pillow and dreamed of angels ascending and descending a stairway to heaven. In that dream, God spoke directly to Jacob and reaffirmed the promise of territory. Earlier, God had promised the land of Israel to Abraham at Beit El. In Exodus, the holy tabernacle rested just north of Beit El in Shiloh, believed to be the first area the ancient Israelites settled after fleeing Egypt.

The understandings both sides are trying to reach before January are part of an original plan initiated at the Annapolis summit, which sought to create a Palestinian state, at least on paper, by January. The summit launched talks aimed at concluding a final status agreement on all core issues: borders, the status of Jerusalem and the future of so-called Palestinian refugees.

But a final agreement has been hampered by several recent events here, most notably Olmert's decision to resign amid corruption charges, leading to general elections scheduled for February that will see a new prime minister elected.

The candidate for office from Olmert's Kadima party, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, is said to oppose reaching a deal on Jerusalem or refugees ahead of elections, fearing it will harm her prospects among center-right voters. Livni is Olmert's chief negotiator with the Palestinians.

In spite of the upcoming elections and the Israeli government's subsequent political instability, teams of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been quietly meeting regularly the past few weeks in hope of concluding a series of understandings on key issues. Informed sources said any understandings reached will be backed up by Bush in an official letter. It is unclear how much weight such a letter will carry under a new U.S. administration.

According to the sources, neither side expects to conclude any deal on the status of Jerusalem or Palestinian "refugees" before January, putting aside the issues for future talks. Instead, negotiations are focused on reaching an agreement emphasizing borders, particularly a pledged Israeli evacuation of the vast majority of the strategic West Bank, which borders central Israeli population centers.

A Palestinian source told WND the U.S. is said to favor Israel withdrawing from nearly the entire West Bank. The source said the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem has been closely monitoring Israeli activities in the territory, which the source said has led to the Jewish state clamping down on what are termed "illegal outposts," or Jewish structures built in the West Bank without government permission. Israel has recently announced a series of small West Bank evacuations, including the threatened forced removal of Jews who legally purchased a house in the ancient city of Hebron.

Also being heavily negotiated is an agreement that would allow the PA to officially open institutions in Jerusalem. WND previously reported the PA already has been quietly operating in Jerusalem, apparently with tacit approval from the Israeli government. But the expected agreement to be concluded before January would give the PA official operational status in the city, likely leading to the opening of scores of Palestinian institutions there.
According to Israeli law, the PA cannot officially hold court in Jerusalem. The PA previously maintained a de facto headquarters in Jerusalem, called Orient House, but the building was closed by Israel in 2001 following a series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem. Israel said it had information indicating the House was used to plan and fund terrorism.

Thousands of documents and copies of bank certificates and checks captured by Israel from Orient House – including many documents obtained by WND – showed the offices were used to finance terrorism, including direct payments to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group.

In parallel with an understanding on the West Bank and Jerusalem institutions, the PA is pushing for a massive prisoner release to be pledged before January. A senior Palestinian negotiator told WND the PA requested that all Palestinian prisoners – meaning even convicted terrorists responsible for murdering Israelis as well as members of Hamas – be freed as part of the deal.

While the negotiator conceded such a massive release is unlikely, he said the PA's hope is that Israel will grant a large release, possibly including the freedom of convicted murderer Marwan Barghouti.

Barghouti is a founder of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the most active Palestinian terror organization. He has boasted of planning the intifada, or Palestinian terror war, launched in September 2000, after then-PA President Yasser Arafat turned down an Israeli offer of a Palestinian state and instead attempted to "liberate" Palestine by force. Barghouti is serving five life sentences for his direct role in murdering Israelis.

Other understandings that Israel and the PA are attempting to reach before January pertain to water and natural resources.

To interview Aaron Klein, contact M. Sliwa Public Relations by e-mail, or call 973-272-2861 or 212-202-4453.