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Journalism of Courage
Palestinian security chiefs rejected on Saturday Yasser Arafat’s choice for a new West Bank leader for their forces, increasing pressure on the Palestinian President as he faces US calls for reform.
In Gaza, 6,000 Palestinians gathered at the funeral of Randa al-Hindi and her daughter Nur, 2, whom Palestinian officials said were shot by Israeli soldiers near a Jewish settlement earlier in the day.
Sources said that more than 100 top security officials refused in a rancorous meeting near Ramallah to accept Arafat’s appointment of Zuhair Manasra as Preventive Security chief in place of Jibril Rajoub.
A smaller group of security commanders also met with Arafat in Ramallah late on Saturday to voice their opposition, a Palestinian security source said.
The rejection was an unusual form of dissent against Arafat from within his own security services.
