EU election monitors face threats in Palestine
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A group claiming to belong to al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is continuing to make specific threats against EU officials in the run up to the 25 January parliamentary elections.
"We don't know if they are really from al-Aqsa, but we are taking the threat very seriously," the head of the EU observation mission, Belgian MEP Veronique de Keyser, told EUobserver on Monday (9 January).
Ms de Keyser indicated that officially, al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades as well as militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have assured EU monitors there will be no violence surrounding the vote.
But she added "In each group, you have extremists who really don't want the elections."
The MEP returned to Brussels from a security assessment tour of the region last Friday and plans to go back to Palestine this Friday to stay until the elections are over.
Thirty-two EU monitors deployed in Gaza and the West Bank last week, with 128 more officials due to arrive on 20 January and 30 MEPs on 22 January.
Ms de Keyser said security information is updated "more than once a day" but it remains unclear whether EU monitors will be able to get into the thick of the voting or observe from safe zones in locations such as Jenin and Hebron.
"This question will remain until the very last day," she indicated.
Security measures taken
The MEP is relying on Israeli and Palestinian intelligence for her assessment, as well as sharing data with Canadian observers and the EU border monitoring mission in Gaza.
She said Hamas' firm grip on Gaza should help guarantee safe conditions there but that the situation in the West Bank is less stable due to clan rule.
The Palestinian police will be responsible for physical protection of EU staff in both Gaza and West Bank, with strict rules to adhere to.
"You stay in your quarters. If you move, you do not move without a Palestinian police escort. If a specific threat surfaces, we restrict all movement," Ms de Keyser indicated.
"We also have a safety plan for an evacuation. We are working with a military expert from the EU on this," she added.
Experts wary
But independent security analysts disagreed with Ms de Keyser's appraisal, saying Gaza remains more dangerous than the West Bank.
They also cast doubt on the Palestinian police´s ability to protect EU staff.
"Gaza is a free for all at the moment. Since the border opened with Egypt, there seem to be more weapons coming in and more highly trained people. No one is above kidnapping, even if you are on the Palestinian side and helping the cause so to speak," a Dubai-based analyst indicated.
She explained that Palestinian police escorts would act as a "deterrant" to kidnappers, but with badly-funded police having to share one gun between four, the militias are better armed and better motivated than the security forces.
The expert added that al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades' official safety pledge should be taken with a pinch of salt.
The group is "not particularly well-disciplined, with a localised cell structure" and "you could easily have a spin-off group that feels aggrieved, that goes off and does its own thing" the analyst remarked.
"We don't know if they are really from al-Aqsa, but we are taking the threat very seriously," the head of the EU observation mission, Belgian MEP Veronique de Keyser, told EUobserver on Monday (9 January).
Ms de Keyser indicated that officially, al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades as well as militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have assured EU monitors there will be no violence surrounding the vote.
But she added "In each group, you have extremists who really don't want the elections."
The MEP returned to Brussels from a security assessment tour of the region last Friday and plans to go back to Palestine this Friday to stay until the elections are over.
Thirty-two EU monitors deployed in Gaza and the West Bank last week, with 128 more officials due to arrive on 20 January and 30 MEPs on 22 January.
Ms de Keyser said security information is updated "more than once a day" but it remains unclear whether EU monitors will be able to get into the thick of the voting or observe from safe zones in locations such as Jenin and Hebron.
"This question will remain until the very last day," she indicated.
Security measures taken
The MEP is relying on Israeli and Palestinian intelligence for her assessment, as well as sharing data with Canadian observers and the EU border monitoring mission in Gaza.
She said Hamas' firm grip on Gaza should help guarantee safe conditions there but that the situation in the West Bank is less stable due to clan rule.
The Palestinian police will be responsible for physical protection of EU staff in both Gaza and West Bank, with strict rules to adhere to.
"You stay in your quarters. If you move, you do not move without a Palestinian police escort. If a specific threat surfaces, we restrict all movement," Ms de Keyser indicated.
"We also have a safety plan for an evacuation. We are working with a military expert from the EU on this," she added.
Experts wary
But independent security analysts disagreed with Ms de Keyser's appraisal, saying Gaza remains more dangerous than the West Bank.
They also cast doubt on the Palestinian police´s ability to protect EU staff.
"Gaza is a free for all at the moment. Since the border opened with Egypt, there seem to be more weapons coming in and more highly trained people. No one is above kidnapping, even if you are on the Palestinian side and helping the cause so to speak," a Dubai-based analyst indicated.
She explained that Palestinian police escorts would act as a "deterrant" to kidnappers, but with badly-funded police having to share one gun between four, the militias are better armed and better motivated than the security forces.
The expert added that al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades' official safety pledge should be taken with a pinch of salt.
The group is "not particularly well-disciplined, with a localised cell structure" and "you could easily have a spin-off group that feels aggrieved, that goes off and does its own thing" the analyst remarked.
posted by Marko at 1/10/2006 12:26:00 AM
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