PA SECURITY FORCES MOONLIGHTED AS TERRORISTS

PA Security Forces Moonlighted as Terrorists - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
At least 600 members of various PA security services have been killed in the past four years, most of them while participating in violence against Israel, a senior PA security official revealed Sunday. Most of the security personnel killed by the IDF had joined various armed militias, with the majority joining Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades. "Most of these men doubled as security officers and members of armed groups," the official admitted.

"The fact that they had received paramilitary training as policemen was an asset because they were able to implement the tactics they learned." Many PA policemen and security agents were trained by Egyptian, Jordanian, and American security experts.

Youssef Kabaha, nicknamed Abu Jandal, a lieutenant-general with the National Security Force, served as the commander of the armed militias in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002. Abu Jandal's friends said that although he was on the PA's payroll, he also served as commander of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad in Jenin.

Jihad Hassan, the commander of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in Salfit, who has been wanted by Israel for two years, was killed in a mysterious explosion a few months ago. Residents said Hassan had purchased from an arms dealer an M-16 rifle that apparently had been booby-trapped. An obituary notice published by the General Intelligence Force revealed that Hassan was serving in the force as a lieutenant.

Two Fatah gunmen from the West Bank recently admitted that they had been trained for six weeks as bodyguards by American security experts near Washington, D.C. The two were later involved in a number of armed attacks against Israel and suspected "collaborators."