|
Seems like wishful thinking. More likely that Sharon will have him or anyone else capable of providing leadership to the Palestinians, shot
Israel Arrest May Bolster Fatah Leader
15 April 2002
Acting on new intelligence, an elite Israel Defense Forces unit April 15 arrested West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti in Ramallah, according to Israeli daily Haaretz. Israeli security services had reportedly been hunting for Barghouti since the start of its West Bank military operations on March 29. Sources cited by Haaretz say that he will be interrogated and put on trial.
Barghouti is the West Bank head of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah party and was one of the key leaders of the 1987-1992 intifada. He is also the reputed leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a radical Fatah offshoot, which has claimed dozens of shooting attacks against Israelis and in recent months has begun staging suicide bombings as well. Barghouti's arrest will put a significant crimp in the Al Aqsa Brigades' operational capability.
Barghouti has become an increasingly popular and visible leader over the course of the past year and is considered a potential successor to Arafat. Much of Barghouti's populist appeal stems from his campaigns against corruption and human rights abuses by Arafat loyalists, as well as his hard-line stance against Israel. Barghouti has advocated a national unity government with Hamas, the Islamic resistance group that calls for Israel's destruction, and argued that the Palestinians should follow the model of the Lebanese-based Hezbollah group, whose guerrilla attacks he believes caused Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon in May 2000.
Barghouti is one of the few Palestinian leaders who could paper over the ideological and political gaps between the Palestinian Authority and Islamist groups such as Hamas. That ability, combined with his strong military base and a political stance that recognizes Israel's right to exist, made Barghouti one of the few Palestinian leaders with both the desire and the ability to reach an eventual agreement with Israel.
It is not yet clear whether Barghouti was betrayed by Palestinian rivals who were threatened by his assent. Israel may have also arrested him in order to bolster his standing among the Palestinians -- spending time in an Israeli jail is a good way to increase street credibility -- in the hope that this raises Barghouti's position versus that of Arafat.
stratfor.com
|
|