Dahlan denies that Abbas promised not to execute collaborators

From a Jerusalem Post article By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
May. 30, 2005 23:09 Updated May. 30, 2005 23:36

Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs Minister Muhammad Dahlan on Monday called for firm action against Palestinians suspected of "collaboration" with Israel. He also denied that PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas had promised Israel that he would not authorize the execution of convicted "collaborators."

Last week the government announced – in response to a petition to the High Court by the Israel Law Center, Shurat Hadin – that it had received assurances from the PA that collaborators would not be executed. The petition was filed in the wake of reports that Abbas was about to approve the execution of dozens of Palestinians who were found guilty of assisting Israel in the killing of wanted gunmen.

Dahlan, who served as commander of the PA's Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip between 1994 and 2003, was responsible for the arrest of many suspected "collaborators," who were later sentenced to death by PA courts.

. . .PA Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa said on Monday that the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip did not mean that the occupation had ended, noting that Israel would continue to control the water and airspace of the area. "The Gaza Strip is only part of the territories that were occupied in 1967," he said.