Gaza pullout: Fatah forms army

2005-08-02 20:39

Khan Yunis - Fatah, the ruling Palestinian party, has begun recruiting a "popular army" to help keep law and order after Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip, said a spokesperson on Tuesday.

Suleiman al-Farra said the volunteer force, which Fatah hoped would number about 1 500 people, was being set up on the orders of party leader Faruq Qaddumi, who was based in Tunis.

Farra said: "We have decided to create a popular army to help the Palestinian Authority take things in hand after Israeli forces withdraw from the Gaza Strip", 15 days before the planned pullout was to begin.

It was reported that about 250 volunteers formed the kernel of the new group, which was being put through fitness exercises on Tuesday at a football ground in the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis.

Farra said: "Training began on Monday under national security officers and Palestinian police."

- AFP