RAMALLAH, November 2, 2011 (WAFA) - President Mahmoud Abbas' advisor for information technology and vocational training, Sabri Saidam said Wednesday that it is significant for Palestine to gain full membership in ITU, calling for the need to separate the national network for telecommunications from the Israeli network.

Saidam, who is also Fatah Revolutionary Council deputy secretary-general, told WAFA that it is very important for Palestine to gain full membership in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which is an observer member in it, and activate the international Palestinian ‘Code’ effectively without the need to go through the Israeli telecommunications switchboards.

He added, “In light of the latest internet attack, which does not rule out the involvement of Israel, the numerous resolutions of the ITU concerning Palestine must be saved completely and Palestine must be dealt with as a full member, controlling our telecommunications network and data transmission services without the need to be connected to the Israeli network or being committed to unfair agreements.”

He pointed out that the latest attack stresses out the Palestinians’ need to manage their own network personally and completely away from Israeli control on the international ‘Code’ and the global communications’ regulations.

He stressed the need for follow-up by the competent authorities of Palestinian’s full membership request in the ITU, adding that the electronic war will take on various forms in the upcoming period.

To be noted, hackers’ attack on Tuesday targeted the internet network in the Palestinian Territory and shut it down completely for five hours.

 The attack was systematic and part of an organized campaign that started from 20 different locations.

 M.G. /F.R