[Commentary from IMRA: An Israel Radio correspondent emphasized this evening on the 11:00 p.m. news magazine of June 11th, 2005 that al-Kidwa’s statement that “holding arms is a strategic issue as long as the occupation exists,” means that the PA and the PLO continue to embrace the terror option. While Prime Minister Sharon’s office claimed that there would be no progression along the road map after disengagement if the PA doesn’t dismantle the terrorist organizations, Mr. Sharon’s team is equally adamant that there is absolutely nothing that the Palestinians can do – or not do – that will stop Israel from retreating from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria.
While Mr. Sharon threatens to “only” retreat from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria if the PA doesn’t dismantle the terrorist organizations, others in his cabinet, including Ben Eliezer “threaten” to continue retreating from almost all – if not all – the West Bank if the Palestinians do not honor their obligations.]

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa declared on Saturday that the PA has no intention to disarm armed Palestinian groups as demanded by the road map peace plan.

Kidwa, a nephew of Yasser Arafat, said the Palestinian groups had the right to keep their weapons as long as the occupation continued. “Using arms under occupation is legal,” he explained.

Kidwa’s statements stand in sharp contrast to promises made by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to confiscate illegal weapons from Palestinian groups and individuals, in line with the road map.

Dismantling armed groups does not come into consideration since “holding arms is a strategic issue as long as the occupation exists,” Kidwa said.

“Although the Palestinian leadership is committed to stopping attacks on Israeli citizens and ending all kinds of mutual violence between the two sides, yet it is our people’s right to defend itself under occupation,” he added.

However, the foreign minister called for “organizing” the issue of weapons so as to prevent them for being used for local crime. “Holding and using arms must be organized, and it should not be used for personal purposes or to violate law and order,” he said.

A senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office dismissed Kidwa’s comments as “internal Palestinian politicking.”

He said PA officials were feeling the pressure from Hamas’s gains in recent municipal elections, and were concerned about increasing support for the organization before the upcoming elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council. “The question is not what they say, but what they do,” the official said.

The official reiterated Israel’s standing position, that if the PA didn’t dismantle the terrorist organizations as spelled out in the first phase of the road map, there would be no progression along the road map after disengagement.

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