Militia Chief Surrenders to Palestinian Police on W. Bank

Palestinian police moved against renegade gunmen of the PLO’s Fatah faction in the West Bank town of Nablus on Sunday, just a week after Israel handed control of the city to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.

After a tense standoff that lasted several hours, Ahmad Tabouk, leader of the Fatah Hawks militia, surrendered to police late Sunday night, sources in Nablus reported.

About two dozen of Tabouk’s gunmen reportedly were arrested earlier in the day after engaging in a brief shootout with police. At least one of the Fatah Hawks was reportedly injured.

During the Palestinian uprising against Israeli military rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Hawks attacked soldiers, Jewish settlers and Palestinian collaborators, and many hailed them as heroes. But in recent months, they have instituted a reign of terror in the streets of Nablus, stalking Palestinians for crimes such as selling drugs, and gunning them down.

On Sunday, the Palestinian police demanded that the Hawks surrender their weapons and that some give themselves up to be prosecuted for unspecified crimes. The Hawks refused and fled into the narrow alleyways of the casbah, said Amin Makboul, a member of the Fatah Higher Committee of the West Bank.

In an interview before Israel handed Nablus over to Arafat last Monday, Tabouk said he viewed himself as working on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and said he was confident that he would be incorporated into its security forces after the Israeli pullout.

But Tabouk had made powerful enemies in Nablus during the months that he ruled the city’s streets. Some of his victims were members of large, powerful families that Arafat now needs as he consolidates his power base in the West Bank and begins the task of building a Palestinian state.

Still, Arafat’s decision to confront Tabouk on his home turf, where some hail the gunman as a Robin Hood defending the interests of the poor families of the casbah against the city’s merchant class, caught many by surprise.

Palestinian sources said Arafat, pressured by Nablus’ influential families, gave police a direct order Friday to arrest Tabouk on charges of rebelling against the Palestinian Authority.

Early Sunday evening, Palestinian police reportedly surrounded a home in the casbah where Tabouk had barricaded himself with several women and children, threatening to kill them if the house was stormed. His surrender came after hours of negotiations, sources said.

Nablus, the West Bank’s largest city, is one of Arafat’s most daunting political and security challenges. Its powerful Palestinian families are linked to at least eight armed militias that are believed to patrol pieces of the city.

Palestinian sources said Sunday that the Palestine Liberation Organization chief is determined to quickly underscore that the Palestinian Authority is now the only legitimate armed force in Nablus.