RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- The return of former security chief Mohammed Dahlan from exile to the inner circle of Palestinian political power could signal a new dynamic in the long-moribund peace process.
It could also trigger a new spasm of fighting between the mainstream Fatah movement and Hamas, which now rules Gaza.
In August the charismatic Dahlan, 47, who has worked closely with the Israelis and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, was elected to Fatah's 18-member Central Committee, the movement's executive body, at landmark legislative elections.
The gathering in the West Bank town of Bethlehem elected a new breed of Palestinian leaders to start taking over the reins from the long-entrenched corruption-tainted Arafat generation that has led the Palestinians since the 1960s.
The dapper Dahlan fell from grace in 2007, when Hamas' fighters drove him and his armed followers out of the Gaza Strip.
Dahlan, then head of the Palestinian Authority's Preventive Security Service in Gaza, was widely held responsible for igniting that bloody coup because of his long feud with the fundamentalists.
But now the longtime favorite of U.S. administrations and Israel's security service is back in the top tier of Palestinian politics. He is seen by many as a possible contender to take over as Fatah leader when the current PA president, 74-year-old Mahmoud Abbas, steps down.
Dahlan was one of the leaders of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 1987-93. He was arrested by the Israelis and deported to Jordan. He made his way to Tunis, where the Palestine Liberation Organization leadership was then based.
Yasser Arafat took him under his wing, and he returned with the PLO leader when he and his cronies returned to the Palestinian territories in 1994 following the Oslo Accords.
Arafat rewarded him by putting him in charge of the PSS in Gaza, one of the Palestinians' main security forces, and the Fatah apparatus there, making him one of the most powerful figures in the Palestinian Authority.
But Dahlan became disenchanted with Arafat's political chicanery and became one of the most vocal critics of the Arafat generation. He demanded political change and reform.
Even then, in the mid-1990s, supported by the Americans, Dahlan, the tough-guy Gaza strongman and grassroots leader, was seen as a possible successor to Arafat, who died in 2004.
The Israelis considered him a pragmatist with whom they could do business and expected him to deliver a complete halt to attacks on Israel. In 2004 the Israelis even wanted him to lead a coup against Arafat.
Dahlan also had the support of the intelligence services of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The CIA, with whom he liaised on security issues, favored him and was reported to have encouraged him to crush Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Dahlan resigned as Arafat's security adviser in 2004. It was a largely powerless position, but it allowed Arafat to keep a close eye on a man he increasingly viewed as a challenger.
At that time, Dahlan went all out to lead the frustrated "Young Guard," push Arafat from power and establish a democratic Palestinian state that Israel could live with.
He was highly popular with ordinary Palestinians, weary of the corruption and nepotism that infected the Palestinian Authority, and of the ceaseless bloodshed with Israel and between rival Palestinian factions.
Arafat had no interest in serious reforms, as demanded by Dahlan and his associates, for fear they would end his long domination of Palestinian politics and finances.
Dahlan has a penchant for stylish business suits and was frequently seen dining with Israeli generals and political leaders in the top restaurants of Tel Aviv.
But he also has a ruthless streak, as evidenced by his brutal crackdown on Hamas in the 1990s and the systematic assassination of his rivals in his drive for power.
Dahlan's enemies say he is too close to Israel and the United States to be trusted. And Dahlan has made wide use of his connections to amass considerable wealth and, until Hamas looted it after the 2007 coup, the biggest mansion in the Gaza Strip.
But he still retains wide grassroots support among Palestinians, and now that he's back in play, in part at least because of the support of Fatah's demoralized rank and file, there are expectations of action and change.
Dahlan has made clear he wants to oust Hamas, his old nemesis, as rulers of his native Gaza. Asked about using force to secure his revenge and reunite the Palestinians, he replies enigmatically, "It's too soon to be thinking about that."
