06/24/2004: "Any questions?"

If there was ever any doubt that Yasser Arafat is the head of a terrorist-criminal gang bent on the murder of Israeli civilians, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority blew it away yesterday. According to the Jerusalem Post:

The Palestinian Authority has no plans to dismantle the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei announced on Sunday. He acknowledged that the group is part of Fatah and said its gunmen are entitled to play a political role in the future.

"We have clearly declared that the Aksa Martyrs Brigades are part of Fatah," Qurei said in an interview with the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. "We are committed to them and Fatah bears full responsibility for the group."

Qurei said his top priority now is to safeguard the security of the Fatah gunmen who are wanted by Israel. He said they would be integrated into Fatah's institutions and would be paid salaries.

"We are working toward ensuring three issues for them on the basis of their adherence to the PLO's political program," Qurei said. "First, they have the right to play a political role within the framework of Fatah, and this is guaranteed for each member. Second, we are seeking to ensure their personal safety, because they are on the run and are wanted and threatened. We will achieve this with the help of the Quartet and the international community. Third, we will guarantee their living conditions economically and socially.

The Aksa Martyrs Brigades will not be dismantled."

Fatah, of course, is the Palestinian political movement headed by, you guessed it, Yasser Arafat. So what we've known all along has been confirmed: that far from being rogue operators, the suicide bombers of the Aksa Martyrs are part and parcel of Arafat's modus operandi. Hamas and Islamic Jihad may or may not take orders from the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize winner. But the Brigades do, and they're responsible for hundreds of Israeli civilians killed and wounded over the last three years.

So can anyone think of a good reason why Arafat should be treated as anything other than a murderous gangster by Israel, the US, or indeed any other civilized nation?