Abdul Razzaq Al-Yahya Between Militarism and Politics (Memories)

Abdul Razzaq Al-Yahya (Abu Anas) was born in Tantura, near Haifa (Palestine) on March 15, 1929. Al-Yahya earned a master's degree in military science from the Damascus Military College in Syria and then was an officer in the Syrian army during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. He was a key designer of the defense strategy employed around the Syrian capital of Damascus at that time. As chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization's army from 1969 to 1972, Al-Yahya was military adviser to the PLO's executive committee and served on that panel again later in his career. Since the 1993 signing of the Oslo accords, the retired Al-Yahya has been closely involved in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. He headed the security committee in talks from 1993 to 1995 and became chairman of the Higher Committee on Security in 1996. Since 1999, Al-Yahya has been chairman of the Committee on Security and Borders in talks with Israel. He was appointed as Interior Minister on June 2002, charged with overhauling Palestinian security forces, and in August 2000, he was a member of the 3-man delegation to Washington. Al-Yahya left the PA cabinet in late 2002.