PA security seeks to license weapons amid crackdown

The spokesman of the Palestinian Authority security forces said Saturday that all weapons-holders in the West Bank are required to re-license arms as part of the authorities' recent security crackdown. Adnan Dmeiri said laws to regulate weapons posession had not efficiently restricted usage, and all arms must be newly registered with the PA for a one-year period. Armed resistance actitivies must come in the framework of a national decision, as groups launching their own actions will end up harming the national cause, he said. The spokesman, in remarks broadcast on Ma'an TV, assured that a mass arrest campaign, first sparked by a shooting on the Jenin govenor's home in May causing his fatal heart attack, did not target any one group. The security crackdown, since extended from Jenin throughout the West Bank, has seen civilans and security officers detained and interrogated over over illegal arms deals and other crimes contributing to insecurity, Dmeiri said earlier. Families of some detainees criticize the PA for holding their kin without charge or trial. Dmeiri insisted that due process is being respected. Anyone aggrieved by the campaign can complain to judicial authorities and visiting of detainees is permited unless the public prosecutor has a legal reason to prevent access to prisoners, he said. The security spokesman hit back at comments by the Gaza Minister of Interior Fathi Hammad that PA forces are cooperating with Israel. Hammad himself was accused of involvement in the assasination of late Hamas leader Yahya Ayyash in 1996, Dmeiri said, calling on the minister to remember fending off allegations himself before casting blame elsewhere. Dmeiri slammed the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip for holding a police graduation ceremony on Wednesday, stressing that the authorities in Gaza cannot appoint police officers under Palestinian law. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, led by Hamas rivals Fatah, split from the Gaza government in 2007 amid bitter fighting between affiliates to each party.