Palestinian police seize guns in Dahlan’s home

Members of the Palestinian Fatah and Legislative Council leave the house of ex-strongman Mohammed Dahlan, who is under investigation for murder and corruption, in Ramallah, West Bank yesterday, after a police raid

Scores of Palestinian police yesterday raided the Ramallah home of ex-strongman Mohammed Dahlan who is under investigation for murder and corruption.
Witnesses in Ramallah’s Al-Tirah neighbourhood said a large number of police and security forces had surrounded his home at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) before forcing their way in and arresting around 10 of his bodyguards.
They were also seen removing weapons, files and computers from his house, as well as the former internal security minister’s two bullet-proof cars.
Dahlan, who continues to hold parliamentary immunity as an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was understood to have been locked in a room of his house while security forces conducted the searches.
“We took 20,000 bullets and 15 guns including Kalashnikovs, M-16s and Uzis, as well as three pistols from Dahlan’s house,” a senior security official told AFP, saying all the weapons were unlicenced.
A neighbour told AFP that he heard security forces checking the weapons before confiscating them.
By 9:30 am (0630 GMT) the raid on the house was over, witnesses said, but police forces continued to surround the residence, controlling the flow of people into the house. Dahlan was apparently still inside.
Last month, Dahlan was expelled from the ruling body of president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party over allegations of financial corruption and murder.
The raid was launched a day after officials at the Fatah Central Committee (FCC) said they had decided to refer his case to the attorney general and the anti-corruption commission.
The FCC decision to expel him must now be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Fatah Revolutionary Council.
Dahlan, who once held the internal security portfolio and was head of Gaza’s powerful security forces, was formerly a leading figure within the secular Fatah movement, which controls the Palestinian Authority.