Fatah's Mohammed Dalan clarifies stance

Former Fatah official and elected member to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Mohammed Dahlan has assured that the disagreement between him and  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was not personal but based on political and economic reasons. Dahlan, who appeared on television Thursday evening, said: “The main reason behind the disagreement between me and Abu Mazen is about his children, and I challenge him if he has something to say about any serious issue.” He explained that this disagreement came when Abu Mazen introduced his children to politics, who exploiting the influence of their father in the economy among other things, clarifying that he had submitted everything in a document for the Central Committee of Fatah members which most of them did not read. He added: "Abu Mazen considered my criticism as a plot against him. “Abu Mazen repeats the same mistakes that we have suffered, and now he is trying to destroy Fatah, by killing any hope to re-build a system for the movement only for personal favour,” he continued. Moreover, Dahlan confirmed that until that moment, he has yet to be charged, but only through the media and this is a new approach in Fatah, indicating that he would abide by the party's values. He added: “What's between me and President Abbas on a personal level is over, but at the national level I’m still member of Fatah, and I will not get out of it. We made our history before we saw Abu Mazen and even the late President Yasser Arafat." Dahlan rejected the prospect of foreign intervention; whether from US or Europe in the case of a disagreement with Abbas, stressing "this is about Fatah and no one can interfere." He also confirmed that he was in contact with Fatah members in Gaza: "I am a member of the PLC, and I have the right to return to Gaza in the coming PLC meeting,” he said About the future of the peace process and negotiations with Israel, Dahlan said: "Unfortunately, all the past years there has been controversy about this issue, and it became very difficult to reach a settlement with Netanyahu government...if we want to confront Israel we have to stop the security coordination immediately,” Dahlan added. Dahlan stated he believes that what is happening in the Arab world, regardless of the outcome of the elections, is in the interests of the Palestinian cause, indicating that peopel sympathetic to the Palestinian cause were finally gaining a voice.