Mr Abbas has expelled other rivals, such as Muhammad Dahlan, by banning their websites.

ECONOMIST: The Palestinians

PA's two powerful military chiefs, Jibril Rajoub and Muhammad Dahlan, who command the Preventive Security Force (the Palestinians are not allowed an army) in the West Bank and Gaza respectively.

ECONOMIST: After Arafat, one day

Mr Mofaz had rushed back to Israel last weekend, cutting short a European holiday, to try to shore up the ceasefire and put new impetus into the talks with Mr Abbas and his security chief, Muhammad Dahlan.

ECONOMIST: Slaughter of the innocents

Mr Fayyad's security forces seem determined not to allow Muhammad Dahlan, a powerful former Fatah security chief who has long wanted the top job, to impose himself at the expense either of Mr Abbas or Mr Fayyad.

ECONOMIST: Talks between Israelis and Palestinians

Muhammad Dahlan's name is often touted.

ECONOMIST: The Middle East

In April Mr Rajoub all but accused Muhammad Dahlan, who recently resigned from being Gaza's security chief but has since been offered the job of Mr Arafat's security adviser, of conniving with Israel's aerial bombardment of his headquarters in Ramallah to discredit him in the eyes of his people.

ECONOMIST: Arafat’s fight for survival | The

His triumphal progress with al-Aqsa fighters in Gaza this week was both a show of strength and a reminder of potential weakness: they were of a branch loyal to Muhammad Dahlan, the Gaza security chief who is one of Mr Abbas's staunch backers, and thus one of his chief props.

ECONOMIST: Palestine's election