JENIN: VILLAGE PATROLS AND ARRESTS CONTINUE

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 000865 SENSITIVE SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KWBG IS PGOV PINS PTER SUBJECT: JENIN: VILLAGE PATROLS AND ARRESTS CONTINUE REF: A. JERUSALEM 852 ¶B. JERUSALEM 764 ¶C. JERUSALEM 757 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. PA security forces (PASF) continue patrols in Jenin area villages as of 1400 local on May 20. PA security commanders plan new patrols and raids across the Jenin Governorate in coming days. PIJ suspects remain in custody, but have not been formally charged. End summary. PASF Patrols Continue Apace, No Plans to End Operation Yet -------------- ¶2. (SBU) National Security Forces (NSF) and police commanders report that PASF are continuing patrols and raids in Jenin Governorate, entering Yabad (Area B, west of Jenin) and smaller nearby villages early May 20. According to West Bank NSF commander MG Thiab Ali (Abu al-Fatah) and police contacts, nearly all PASF who deployed to Jenin on May 2 remain there. Beyond those forces regularly stationed in Jenin, there are 120 NSF and 279 PG soldiers, 65 public order police and 30 deployed intelligence officers from Preventive Security (PSO),General Intelligence, "Military Intelligence" (Istikhbarat) and "Military Police." 200 additional PG soldiers who deployed after clashes with PIJ in Qabatiya on May 6 (Refs B and C) have redeployed to Bethlehem to protect the Palestine Investment Conference, after MG Ali and Jenin NSF commander BG Sulayman Imran assessed that the situation had calmed and they were no longer needed. ¶3. (SBU) NSF and police contacts compiled a statistical roll-up of accomplishments from May 3-20: -- PASF seized and dismantled/sold off 449 stolen vehicles (stolen vehicles are generally already at least partially disassembled for parts when seized),and confiscated 84 unregistered vehicles; -- PASF served 162 court summons, mostly to criminal defendants in B Areas; -- Court officials and police report closing 1,348 criminal and civil enforcement cases (this figure includes everything from felony cases to minor offenses such as traffic infractions, most of which were expeditiously resolved with impositions of fines or probation). ¶4. (SBU) PA security commanders plan additional patrols in the greater Jenin area in coming days, including in villages the PA has already visited. MG Ali said he wants residents, and especially those in smaller towns that PA security has not visited since 2000, to understand that the Jenin security operation is not a one-time "show," but rather the beginning of a sustained commitment to law and order. PIJ Militants in Custody -------------- ¶5. (SBU) PA security commanders report that eight PIJ members are in PA custody in Jenin as of 1200 local on May 20, all of whom have requested inclusion in the PA-GOI disarmament/amnesty deal. Two are minor PIJ supporters from the Khzaymiah family who remain under PA guard in Jenin's hospital (shot in the feet while attempting to force police to free a jailed PIJ militant),and the other six are: a) Umar al-Bzur, arrested April 28; b) Salih Abu Zayyad (al-Quds Brigades cell leader),arrested May 11; c) Ala'a Abu Rub, arrested May 12 d) Yusif Kmayl, arrested May 12 e) Abd al-Fatah Khzaymiah, in General Intelligence protective custody since May 18; and f) Jihad Nawadha, arrested May 16. WALLES