PA Interior Ministry Director-General Jamal Abu Samhadana: I Am Not Against Abu Mazen

Following are excerpts from an interview with Jamal Abu Samhadana, Director-General of the Palestinian Authority's Interior Ministry, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on May 5, 2006,

Jamal Abu Samhadana: I have been an officer in the National Security apparatus for a long time, and I hold the rank of lieutenant colonel. If my rank is the problem, the president can take it away. But the truth is that the problem has to do with my identity. Jamal Abu Samhadana is wanted by Israel and America. He is rejected by both parties. The lackeys of Israel and America in the region, and the people...

Interviewer: Do you contend, Mr. Abu Samhadana, that the Palestinian president opposed your appointment for that reason - because you are Jamal Abu Samhadana, who is wanted by the Israelis, and because the Americans are unhappy about your appointment? Is that what you are saying?

Jamal Abu Samhadana: The interior minister of the previous government, Nasser Yousuf, appointed me head of the Palestinian military intelligence apparatus, and this appointment was rejected by the Israelis and the Americans. Now they are rejecting [me] once again. As a matter of fact, I take orders only from the Palestinians. I do not take orders from outside, because just as we do not intervene in the affairs of other countries...

Interviewer: When you say "Palestinians," you mean President Abu Mazen as well, right? Just to conclude this issue.

Jamal Abu Samhadana: Of course, he is our elected Palestinian president, and I am not against him at all.

[...]

Interviewer: You declared that the Palestinian government informed you that the decision whether to launch missiles or not firing or non-firing of missiles is left up to the Palestinian resistance and its people. If this is not chaos in security, then what is? If the government leaves it up to various organizations and factions to decide whether to launch missiles against a neighboring country, regardless of how you view it - is that chaos in security or not?

Jamal Abu Samhadana: Of course not. This is not chaos in security. The men of the resistance defend our people day and night. They stay awake at night for the sake of our people's well-being. This is a very natural and simple response to the daily violations, to the plundering of our lands, to the killing of our children and women, and to the daily destruction of our fields.