by Saud Abu Ramadan     

    GAZA, Nov. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Mohamed Dahlan, former Palestinian minister of interior security, said Tuesday that the new coming Palestinian leadership can not ignore or jump over principles that late leader Yasser Arafat believed in and struggled for.

    "No one can jump over the red lines that President Arafat believed in," Dahlan told Xinhua, when asked about the new era in the history of the Palestinian people after Arafat passed away lastThursday.

    Dahlan made the remarks in his fancy office in western Gaza Citywhile talking with Xinhua and some local reporters.

    Dahlan was born in a refugee camp in southern Gaza Strip in 1960. He is considered as one of young Fatah movement leaders, awaiting a bright political future.

    He is close to Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) ExecutiveCommittee's new chairman Mahmoud Abbas and considered as one of Abbas' loyalists.

    Answering the Xinhua question, Dahlan explained that the red lines were the issue of East Jerusalem that is the capital of a future independent Palestinian state, the fair solution to the Palestinian refugees issue, the land-for-peace principle and related UN resolutions.

    "Anybody who replaces Arafat should conceive that he must keep what Abu Ammar (Arafat's nickname) believed in. Arafat did not change his mind concerning basic Palestinian principles, and anybody who comes after Arafat must be committed to these principles," he said.

    He said that during peace talks in Camp David in July 2000 between the Israelis and the Palestinians to reach a permanent peaceful solution, "Abu Mazen was very fanatic, hardliner and toughwith the Israelis concerning the issue of the right of return for Palestinian refugees."

    Dahlan, who had helped Arafat in peace negotiations with Israel,admitted that he had always mediated between Arafat and Israeli leaders, like late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, previous Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak.

    Dahlan slammed the current US administration led by President George W. Bush for its position concerning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict over the past four years.

    "I'm not very enthusiastic about what Bush said. We had a bitterexperience about the US administration, which abandoned the peace process and gave (Israeli Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon the green light to shed the Palestinian blood," he said.

    Dahlan said that there were no contacts with the Israeli government after Arafat passed away, voicing hope that the United States "would give up the previous policy that had blindly supported Israel."

    Commenting on Sharon's statements after Arafat's death that Israel would renew ties with the Palestinian leadership if the Palestinians fight "terrorism," Dahlan said, "It is over. Israel should stop playing this broken disk."

    "Sharon wants to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza or any part of the territories, he can," Dahlan said. "The Palestinians would not keep playing this ridiculous game; they would rather focus on rearranging their internal affairs and would ignore the craziness of each Israeli political party."

    Defending Abu Mazen, Dahlan said that Abu Mazen "is the luckiestPalestinian leader to run for the presidential elections."

    The PLO as well as the Fatah Central Committee decided on Sundaythat a presidential election would be held on Jan. 9, 2005 for the replacement of Arafat.

    "It is very important for Abu Mazen to become the Fatah movement's candidate to run for the presidential election in order not to slip into the trap of having more than a Fatah candidate," Dahlan said.

    He said that Abu Mazen is from the old guards of Arafat, adding "Abu Mazen is the bridge that can connect the old leadershipwith the current young leaders, in addition to his leadership experience inside and outside the territories."

    He said that parliamentary and municipal elections will be held after the presidential election.

    "From now on until elections are held, there will be security arrangements to end chaos and anarchy. After the elections, there would be tough security measures to control the security situation in the Palestinian territories," said Dahlan.

    "Arafat's death is a great loss for the Palestinian people, but despite this great loss, we still have the choice to rebuild a united institution to enable the collective work that would compensate his loss." he stressed. Enditem