BETHLEHEM, West Bank, July 22 (AFP) - Armed militants loyal to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat vowed Thursday to pursue their war against corruption as vigorously as their campaign of violence against the Israelis.
"Our primary task now is to fight against corruption and corrupt people in the same way that we are struggling against the Israeli enemy," the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said in a statement.
The Brigades, an armed offshoot of Arafat's Fatah movement, led protests over the weekend after the veteran leader appointed his cousin Musa as the new overall head of general security, denouncing him as the epitome of corruption.
After clashes in Gaza between the security service and Al-Aqsa fighters, Arafat appointed a new security supremo, effectively demoting Musa by limiting his role to Gaza.
The statement again criticised Musa Arafat and his West Bank counterpart, Ismail Jaber, saying they regarded the Palestinian people as a "cash cow."
"We do not like taking the law into our hands but ... the leadership is neglecting our plight and suffering."
It also called on Arafat, "the symbol of our struggle, to seriously and immediately go after those who are corrupt."
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have carried out scores of anti-Israeli attacks during the course of the four-year intifada.