TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- The head of Israel's Shin Bet security service says his country may miss Saddam Hussein.
The tough-talking Yuval Diskin, who only took up his post as head of the General Security Service, or Shabak, popularly known as the Shin Bet, in May. He made his remarks in what was supposed to be a secret speech to young religious Jewish settler zealots at the Eli settlement on the West Bank. But the speech was secretly videotaped and later broadcast on Israel Television.
Diskin said a strong dictatorship would be preferable to the present "chaos" in Iraq. He also said the Israeli security services and judiciary treated Arabs and Jewish suspects differently, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported Friday.
"When you dismantle a system in which there is a despot who controls his people by force, you have chaos. I'm not sure we won't miss Saddam," Diskin said.
When asked about the growing destabilization of Iraq, Diskin said Israel might come to rue its decision to support the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Diskin also said he thought Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had made a mistake when he withdrew the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip last year without ensuring the Palestinian Authority could fill the security vacuum.
"From a security perspective, I am opposed to handling over territories to the Palestinians unless we know there are officials there who will take control and commit themselves to upholding the law," he said. "If there are no such officials, then I am against handing over territories to Palestinian control."
