Is Abbas Serious?

I doubt it....I certainly don't the fact that he wants to take terrorists into the security services.

Tens of thousands filled the center of Gaza City Tuesday evening for the biggest Hamas demonstration ever seen here, celebrating Israel's pullout and listening to Hamas leaders vowing to continue the fight.

A stage set up at the central square was decorated with green Hamas flags and pictures of Hamas leaders killed in Israeli raids - founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, his successor Abdel Aziz Rantisi and Gaza commander Salah Shehadeh.

The huge rally was a statement of strength of the Islamic movement, which is challenging the mainstream Fatah, headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, for control of Gaza, along with contesting parliamentary elections.

Earlier, Rafik Husseini, an aide to Abbas, announced that the PA chairman intended to enforce disarmament on all armed Palestinian groups, including Hamas. Husseni said that the first target, however, would not be Hamas, but rather Fatah.

He emphasized that the members would be at first encouraged to join the PA security forces and then, in the event that they failed to comply, would be viewed as violating the rule of law.

Hamas leader Mahmoud a-Zahar insisted his group would not disarm. "These weapons will remain aimed at the chest of the enemy until we achieve liberation, God willing," he told the crowd. "We are not going to rest until we raise the flag of Islam over the minarets of Jerusalem."

A relative of another Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who gave her name only as Um Mohammed, 42, said Hamas attacks drove Israel out. "It's the blood of the martyrs that liberated the land," she told The Associated Press. "Their blood ... purified the land."

She added that Hamas would not lay down its arms "as long as there are Jews in Palestine."