General Musa Arafat, the commander of the Palestinian Authority´s Military Intelligence who escaped an assassination attempt Thursday night, is one of the most controversial security chiefs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

A cousin and lookalike of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, Gen. Musa Arafat has earned many enemies among Palestinians ever since he was appointed as Military Intelligence chief in 1994. His foes include top Fatah and Hamas leaders, PA security chiefs and ordinary Palestinians accused of collaboration with Israel and involvement in petty crime.

"He has so many enemies that it would very difficult to identify the assailants," a senior Palestinian Authority official told The Jerusalem Post.

On Saturday, Gen. Arafat´s men in the Gaza Strip said they arrested three Palestinians on suspicion of involvement in the assassination attempt. The identity of the three was not revealed.

The attack took place Thursday night, when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at Gen. Arafat´s office in Gaza City. The rocket missed the office where he was sitting and ploughed into the adjoining jail, wounding at least 10 people.

Palestinians said among the injured were a number of Military Intelligence officers, suspected collaborators and others held for criminal offences. The security chief himself was unharmed.

Sources in Gaza City said the assassination attempt is a sign of growing tensions between the various Palestinian security organizations. Gen. Arafat is said to be at odds with PA Minister of State for Security Muhammed Dahlan and Preventive Security Service chief Col. Rashid Abu Shabak.

The Military Intelligence chief is one of a number of security chiefs who have refused to take orders from Dahlan, insisting on reporting directly to Arafat in Ramallah. The other security organizations that remain under Arafat´s control are the West Bank branch of the Preventive Security Service led by Col. Ziad Hab al-Reeh, the West Bank branch of General Intelligence led by Col. Tawkif Tirawi, the National Security Force led by Haj Ismail Jabr and Force 17 (Arafat´s presidential guard), led by Brig. Gen. Faisal Abu Sharkh.

Gen. Arafat said Saturday that the attempt to kill him was a "crime designed to drag the Palestinians into a civil war." He added: "In principle, I don´t accuse anyone, but there is a group that wants inter-Palestinian fighting. We won´t be dragged into this fighting no matter what the reasons are."

He ruled out that the possibility that the attack was the work of Palestinian opposition factions like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Surprisingly, Gen. Arafat also exonerated Israel of "direct responsibility" for the assassination attempt.

"This is the work of people who belong to the fifth column," he said, refusing to elaborate.

"By excluding Israel and the Palestinian opposition groups, Gen. Arafat is pointing an accusing finger at his rivals in the Palestinian security forces," remarked a veteran journalist from Gaza City. "It´s actually surprising that he didn´t blame the Islamic groups because they have an open account to settle with him."

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have frequently accused the Military Intelligence of arresting and brutally torturing many of their activists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 1996, member of Hamas fired warning shots outside Gen. Arafat´s house in Gaza City to protest against a massive crackdown on their colleagues.

But Gen. Arafat has also earned many enemies among the cadres of Fatah. In 1998, his men opened fire at a group of demonstrators in Ramallah, killing 16-year-old Wassim Tarifi. The demonstration, led by top Fatah operative Marwan Barghouti, was staged to protest against the arrest of five Fatah activists in the city by the Military Intelligence

Fatah officials said then that the shots fired from the offices of the Military Intelligence were in fact directed at Barghouti. Yasser Arafat has since refused to fire his cousin for his role in the shooting.

He has also turned down calls by Palestinian human rights organization to launch investigations into the deaths of three Palestinians held in Military Intelligence prisons over the past few years. Human rights activists say they have also documented several cases of brutal torture of detainees in Military Intelligence prisons. (© 1995-2003, The Jerusalem Post 07/26/03)