Coming after Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party has been taking responsibility for terror attacks itself, including attacks by its own security services, this move was simply an attempt to claim that the PA really opposes terror - so Mahmoud Abbas can make that claim ahead of (or within) his annual anti-Israel speech at the UN.
The arrest was also reportedly after intense pressure from the US and Israel for the PA to adhere to its own signed agreements to fight terrorism, not to contribute to it.
In my post, I predicted that by next week, we'll see that this was simply political theatre.
It seems that we don't have to wait for next week.
After massine riots in Nablus and Jenin, in which Palestinian security forces killed one protester, the PA caved to the terrorist supporters who wanted Shtayyeh released. At dawn today, after all-night negotiations with the rioters, reports say that the PA will release Shtayyeh "within a few days."
Conveniently, this will be after Abbas' speech to the UN and after he leaves the US.
The PA is not serious about fighting terror. On the contrary, it supports terror. And it always has.
