Mohammed Dahlan
Mohammed DahlanFlash 90

Mohammed Dahlan, Fatah’s former security chief in Gaza and Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s longtime political archrival, attacked Abbas on Monday, saying he would not repeat the mistake of supporting the PA chairman’s reelection as head of Fatah.

Speaking to the French Le Monde newspaper ahead of the Fatah congress, which is scheduled to convene on Tuesday, Dahlan accused Abbas of persecuting his political opponents in an attempt to dispose of them from the ranks of Fatah.

He also accused Abbas’s sons of financial corruption.

Dahlan was ousted from Fatah in 2011 and fled to Dubai. His home in Ramallah was later raided by PA security forces.

Abbashasaccused Dahlan of, among other things, collaborating with Israel to assassinate a senior Hamas terrorist in 2002. Dahlan has denied the accusations and has repeatedly verbally attacked Abbas from his new whereabouts in Dubai.

In Monday’s interview, Dahlan referenced Abbas’s participation in the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres, saying that Abbas should have taken the position of the Palestinian people into consideration, but he chose to think about Israel instead.

He reiterated, however, that he has no desire to run against Abbas to succeed him and said that he would support any person who can take responsibility and meet the expectations of the Palestinian people, such as archterrorist Marwan Barghouti, who is currently serving five life sentences in Israeli prison for his role in planning suicide terror attacks during the Second Intifada.

Tuesday will mark the first time since 2009 that the Fatah congress has convened. Abbas has invited both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad to take part in the event.