'Dweik is real Palestinian president'
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 25, 2009
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Hamas said on Wednesday that Abdel Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the
Palestinian Legislative Council who was released a day earlier from Israeli
prison, should be treated as acting president of the Palestinian Authority.
Meanwhile, the PA is planning to release on Thursday 40 Hamas members who
are being held without trial in its prisons in the West Bank.

Earlier this week, the PA leadership said it would free hundreds of Hamas
detainees as a gesture aimed at boosting the chances of reconciliation with
the Islamist movement.

According to the PA constitution, if the office of the president is
considered vacant, the PLC speaker serves as interim president for 60 days
until new elections are held in the Palestinian territories.

Mahmoud Abbas's four-year term ended in January, turning Dweik, the most
senior Hamas representative in the West Bank, into acting president,
according to Hamas.

"Dweik is the real president of the Palestinian people after Abbas's term in
office expired in January," said Hamas legislator Salem Salameh.

Dweik's release has raised concerns among Fatah representatives in the West
Bank who also criticized Abbas for rushing to phone him shortly after he
walked out of prison.

Some Fatah operatives argued that Dweik's release would strengthen Hamas at
a time when the Palestinian security forces are making huge efforts to
prevent the Islamist movement from extending its control to the West Bank.

One Fatah official told The Jerusalem Post that it would have been better
had Israel released Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.

"Israel is apparently trying to undermine our authority by freeing Hamas
men," he said. "Israel's measures are counterproductive."

Fatah legislators on Wednesday prevented Dweik from holding a press
conference inside the PLC chamber.

As soon as Dweik arrived at the PLC compound in Ramallah, the Fatah
legislators and Fatah-affiliated employees closed the doors and left their
offices, eyewitnesses said.

Fatah also said it would not allow Dweik to convene the PLC, under the
pretext that only Abbas had the authority to call such a meeting.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh condemned the moves against Dweik and
warned they would hamper efforts to reconcile with Fatah.

"I'm not optimistic regarding the prospects of national dialogue [with
Fatah]," Haniyeh said.

Despite Abbas's decision to release Hamas prisoners, his security forces on
Wednesday arrested Dr. Hafez Shaheen, deputy mayor of Nablus, the largest
city in the West Bank, for allegedly supporting Hamas.

Shaheen is also a lecturer at An-Najah University in Nablus. This was the
second time in the past 18 months that he has been detained by the PA
security forces.

Over the past few days, several members of elected municipal councils and
university teachers have been rounded up by the PA security forces as part
of its efforts to eliminate Hamas's presence in the West Bank.

In the Gaza Strip, Hamas's security forces arrested newspaper editor Sari
al-Qidwah, local journalists told the Post. They noted that the detained
editor is a relative of former PA chairman Yasser Arafat.

Hamas did not give any reason for his detention. Qidwah is editor-in-chief
of the As-Sabah newspaper.

In the West Bank, the PA security forces arrested Sari Samour, a Palestinian
investigative reporter and writer. He was taken into custody after
criticizing the performance of the PA security forces and describing them as
a tool in the hands of Israel.

His family said he was summoned to the PA's General Intelligence Service
offices in Jenin following a series of articles he wrote about the recent
incidents in Kalkilya, where Palestinian security forces shot and killed
four Hamas militiamen.

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