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Following are excerpts from an interview with former top PA security chief Muhammad Dahlan, which aired on Al-Hayat TV on June 13, 2011:
Muhammad Dahlan: Brother Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] made his decision [to expel me] about a year ago, because he cannot tolerate any criticism, any advice, any comment, or any participation in the decision-making, regarding politics, Fatah, the negotiations, or finances. This has become perfectly clear since the rift [with Hamas], which made Abbas feel that he should have a monopoly on everything.
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When the [Hamas] coup d'état occurred, I happened to be in a German hospital for three months. No Palestinian official dared to take control of the Gaza Strip again. So I am not the one to be blamed for this. The inquiry committee accused me over the media, but when I asked a member on that committee how they could possibly blame me, when I was in hospital, in Germany, he said: "We had two choices. If we had accused President Abbas, he would have had to resign, but you can tolerate it, so we declared you partially responsible."
Regardless of all that, many people in Gaza say: "Okay, Gaza has fallen, but what have the president and the leadership done in the four years that have passed since then?" They abandoned Gaza, its people, and its Fatah members to the occupation and to the torment of Hamas.
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I am and will remain a member of Fatah, and whoever doesn’t like it can resign or take early retirement… I belong in Fatah, and I have nowhere to go except for Palestine. Other people can go on "official visits" to Palestine, but I live there. I say to the Fatah members: None of you should resign, or express anger in response to this decision. This decision is null and void, and brother Abu Mazen can shove it.
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