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Nasser Yousef

nasser yousef

Nasser Yousef

Palestinian Interior Minister

(Born 1943)

Nasser Yousef was born in 1943 in Jisr al-Majama', near Bisan in the Jordan valley.

Yousef holds a Masters Degree in Islam History from the University of Lebanon. He studied Military Science at the Military Faculty in the Soviet Union for two years.

He is a Fatah member and was trained on a Fatah leadership course in China in 1967. Between 1968-1971 he was a Fatah commander of the Central Sector in Jordan, a brigade commander in Lebanon, and a general in the Palestinian National Liberation Army. Since 1989 he has been a member of the Fatah Central Command.

After the creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1995 he served as the public security commander of the police force with the rank of Major-General, based in Gaza City. He was Mahmoud Abbas's  choice for the post of Minister of Administrative Reform in his April 2003 cabinet but was removed from the line-up after Arafat signalled his opposition. He was also Ahmed Qureia's choice for Interior Minister in his cabinet but was again refused the position after opposition by Yasser Arafat.

Nasser Yousef was appointed Minister of the Interior in the Palestinian cabinet established in March 2005.

After the victory of Hamas in the January 2005 elections, Yousef no longer serves in the Palestinian cabinet.

(Source: Palestinian National Authority)

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