GAZA CITY, July 19 (AFP) - Abdel Razzek al-Majeida, appointed Monday to head the security services, is a long-time ally of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat who has made a swift return to favour after being shunted aside in a weekend revamp.
In an interview with AFP after his appointment, Majeida appealed for a return to calm among Palestinians after an outbreak of violence that greeted the earlier appointment of Arafat's cousin Musa as head of the general security service.
Majeida had been given an advisory role when Arafat slashed the number of security services from eight to three on Saturday, but he was promoted on Monday after the backlash against Musa, whose responsibility is now limited to Gaza.
Palestinians "are in need right now of dialogue and a common goal and to focus all their efforts on establishing an independent Palestinian state," he said.
"The language of violence doesn't allow for dialogue. The civil war that Israel wishes on us must be avoided," he said, adding that democratic changes were needed, not violence.
Born in 1937 in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis, Majeida graduated from Egypt's Military Academy in 1955.
Living most of his life in exile after the 1967 Israeli-Arab war, Majeida first met Arafat in 1968 when he was training with a Palestinian combatant unit in Egypt.
He later moved to Beirut where he seconded Arafat at the head of the Palestinian fighters' unit in Lebanon. He is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Council-Military Council.
Majeida returned home when Arafat's Palestinian Authority was established in 1994 and was appointed security chief in the Gaza Strip.
He held the latter position until the Palestinian leader was forced into revamping the sprawling Palestinian security services after mass protests, including kidnappings of officials, erupted in Gaza last week against their alleged corruption.
His new position presents him with arguably the biggest challenge of his career at a time when Arafat's authority is coming under unprecedented pressure.
Majeida, who has been promoted from general to field marshall as part of the latest reshuffle, tried to strike an upbeat note by saying that "there was no room for defeatism" and that the Palestinians had to remain united if they wanted to win their long-standing battle for an independent state.
"We still have to deal with the crucial issues of Jerusalem, the refugees (right of return), the borders (of the future Palestinian state) and the prisoners" held by Israel, he said.