Fatah leader denies plans to topple Abbas

Former Fatah leader in Gaza Mohamed Dahlan denied media reports that he planned to topple Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to freeze his membership in Fatah.

Dahlan said he was “surprise” at accusations that he conspired to topple Abbas and take over the Palestinian Authority and rejected reports that he had disparaged the president and his family.
“I will never take part in undermining Fatah,” he told Al Arabiya in a satellite interview Wednesday.

 I don’t want power and I have no interest in toppling President Mahmoud Abbas 

Mohamed Dahlan

Dahlan said that reports of fallout between him and Abbas and his suspension from Fatah’s central committee, the main decision making body in the party, are an “insult” to Fatah and to the entire Palestinian cause.
“The people who circulated those rumors are adding fuel to fire and trying to sow the seeds of sedition in Fatah instead of working on uniting Palestinians.”

He accused Hamas and Israel of seeking to destroy Fatah by spreading those reports through various sources.

Dahlan added that conspiracies do not exist within the ranks of Fatah and that he has no political ambitions and was never involved in the smuggling of weapons from Jordan to the town of Jenin in northern West Bank.

“I don’t want power and I have no interest in toppling President Mahmoud Abbas,” he said.

“The Palestinian Authority is under occupation by Israel in the West Bank and by Israel and Hamas in Gaza. There is no place for political ambitions and no political position to vie for, hence no need for a coup.”

Dahlan added that he appeared in front of a hearing and not an interrogation committee, yet he argued that some people must have instigated President Abbas against him and made him decide to form an interrogation committee.

“I will appear in front of this committee in Ramallah in two days and I am ready for the interrogation anywhere.”

Dhalan denied having accused Abbas’ sons of corruption and insisted that he would never slander the president or his family.

“I was among the president’s supporters when he was prime minister at the time of the late Yasser Arafat.”

When asked about the suspension of his membership in Fatah’s central committee, Dahlan replied that only his attendance of meetings that was suspended until the interrogation is finished.

“It is very unfortunate that we become preoccupied with personal disputes instead of fighting the occupation,” he concluded.


(Translated from the Arabic by Sonia Farid)