Have they got it right again?

I'm normally cautious in taking on reports from Debka. They do have a record of scoops on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Middle East conflicts generally, but they also seem to me to have a to-the-right-of-Likud agenda.

But Debka was the first to report that Al Qaeda was establishing itself in Gaza after the Summer 2005 Israeli disengagement, which was actually acknowledged as established in both Gaza and the West Bank by PA President Mahmoud Abbas just days ago.

Now Debka is reporting that the new government of the PA, which Hamas says it will announce on Monday, will include ministerial posts for Israel's newly captured prisoner Ahmad Sa'adat, the leader of the PFLP and mastermind of the Rehavam Ze'evi assassination, and Marwan Barghouti, serving five life sentences for his part in terrorist attacks in Israel.

Is it true? Does anyone have any confirmation from elsewhere?

On the other hand, the BBC is reporting that the PFLP is not going to be entering the Hamas government, so it wouldn't be likely that its head honcho would become a minister.

And what's your guess for which ministries these gentlemen will be assigned if it is true?

Sa'adat: Minister of the Interior (he should be inside for some time)?

Barghouti: Minister for Pensions (because he's unlikely to get out before he qualifies for his own?)

Comments

[Don Radlauer]

I'm very skeptical about Debka's "record of scoops on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Middle East conflicts". It's easy to accumulate such a "record" if you're willing to print any rumor that comes your way: some of the rumors are bound to be correct, and you can take credit for a "scoop" because you didn't take the time that more responsible media outlets take to verify your facts and sources.

Debka has gotten some stories right; but they've also gotten a lot of stories egregiously wrong, and they never (at least to my knowledge) publish retractions when their stories turn out to be untrue.

I just followed your link to read what Debka had to say about Sa'adat and Barghouti - and I couldn't find any mention of them in the article about the impending Palestinian cabinet. Needless to say, I didn't find any statement regarding a previous, incorrect version of the story!

In short: I would suggest reading Debka only as an indicator of interesting possibilities, not as a genuine news outlet. More often than not, their predictions turn out to be wildly false.

Addendum: Debka also has the rather disreputable habit of repackaging material from open (or semi-open) sources such as Janes as if they came from "our correspondents" - implying that Debka has all kinds of highly-placed sources and analysts that in fact consist of subscriptions to other publications. These "correspondents" plus a few people who use Debka to publicize rumors and speculations that nobody else would touch constitute most of Debka's "reporting staff".