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RAMALLAH, West Bank — A senior U.S. military officer who oversaw the training of Palestinian security forces in the West Bank was aware that some engaged in the torture of detainees, according to a confidential document published Tuesday.
The transcript of a 2009 meeting between Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat is among more than 1,600 documents leaked to the Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera. The channel, which says the documents cover a decade of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, has been releasing them in installments this week.
Tuesday's segment dealt with security coordination between the Israeli military and the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in facing a shared enemy, Hamas. The Islamic militant group wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas' forces in 2007, and the Western-backed Palestinian leader has been cracking down on Hamas in the West Bank to prevent a repeat there.
Dayton supervised the training of some of the Palestinian security forces until recently.
In his meeting with Erekat, he expressed concern about the behavior of the Palestinian intelligence service, according to the transcript.
"By the way, the intelligence guys are good. The Israelis like them," Dayton is quoted as saying. "They say they are giving as much as they are taking from them. But they are causing some problems for international donors because they are torturing people. Hamas does it ..."
Erekat responded: "That is not an excuse."
Human rights groups and released Hamas detainees have repeatedly complained of mistreatment in West Bank lockups, including sleep deprivation, beatings, tying up prisoners in painful positions and suspending them from the ceiling. Hamas is believed to be employing the same methods against Abbas loyalists in Gaza.
Western officials, including those in Dayton's office, have declined comment on the torture allegations in the past, saying they are not involved in training the forces that are accused of mistreating prisoners.
There was no immediate U.S. State Department comment.
Al-Jazeera and the Britain's Guardian newspaper, which also received the documents, say the so-called "Palestine Papers" illustrate a high level of security coordination between Abbas' troops, foreign advisers and Israel.
In a May 2008 meeting, a Palestinian security chief asked a senior Israeli military official for more tear gas canisters to help put down West Bank protests. The Israeli urged his Palestinian counterpart to do more to stem Hamas' influence in Palestinian society, and was told the matter should be dealt with but that it's not the job of Palestinian troops.
Al-Jazeera has been publishing documents on a range of issues since Sunday, alleging they show Abbas has been making far-reaching concessions to Israel, while getting little in return.
Abbas dismissed Al-Jazeera's broadcasts on Tuesday as "soap operas" and told hundreds of supporters at a carefully orchestrated rally in the West Bank that he won't compromise on Palestinian rights.
Abbas and members of his inner circle have drawn criticism for their response, which has focused on accusing Al-Jazeera of distortion and smear tactics instead of engaging the substance of the leaked documents.
The discrepancy between public and private positions appears to have been widest on the fate of Palestinian refugees. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced during the war surrounding Israel's establishment in 1948. Today, refugees and their descendants number several million, many scattered across the Middle East.
Israel rejects a mass resettlement, saying it would spell the end of the country as a Jewish state. The traditional Palestinian demand is that Israel recognize the refugees' "right of return" to Israel, with details left up to negotiations. Documents presented by Al-Jazeera, however, suggested Abbas and other negotiators were willing to accept an Israeli proposal for only a nominal return.
According to the leaked documents, the Palestinian leader said in a 2009 meeting with Palestinian negotiators that it is "illogical to ask Israel to take 5 million or indeed 1 million." Such a demand, he said, "would mean the end of Israel." However, Israel's offer to take 5,000 is unacceptably low, he said.
The documents also say Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told a U.S. official in January 2010 that a Palestinian position paper given to Israel includes the return of a "symbolic number" of refugees.
Abbas aide Nabil Shaath told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the Palestinians never proposed a specific number, and that all Palestinians, including those in the diaspora, would be able to vote on any future deal in a referendum.
Abbas' political rivals seized the opportunity to mount an attack on the Palestinian leader. Hamas accused him of treason. At a protest Tuesday, Khalil al-Haya, a Hamas political leader, told the crowd that the compromises "breached all the principles, standards and justifications of the Palestinian people."
In Jordan, home to the bulk of the refugees, the opposition Muslim Brotherhood urged the government Tuesday to reconsider its relations with Abbas' Palestinian Authority over the refugee issue.
The revelations came four months after negotiations between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ran aground shortly after they began, with little hope of resumption. Abbas says he won't go back without a full Israeli settlement freeze, which Netanyahu refuses to contemplate.
Analysts said the political damage to Abbas among Palestinians was still limited but could grow.
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Associated Press writer Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City and Diaa Hadid in Gaza's Shati refugee camp contributed to this report.
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