Where is Muhammad Dahlan?

There has been some speculation in recent days about the whereabouts of Muhammad Dahlan, the senior Palestinian Authority figure who was formerly chief of security in Gaza. He is said to have criticized Palestinian President Mahmoud ‘Abbas (with whom he's shown at left), and may have either had his bodyguard taken away or even left the West Bank.

Much of the speculation has been coming out of Al-Quds al-‘Arabi, the London-based Arabic paper, with articles here and here, but The National offers an English account here.

Dahlan was among the most prominent of the internal figures of the PLO, the indigenous leaders of the West Bank and Gaza who emerged during the first intifada, as opposed to the exiled leadership. Younger and more charismatic than ‘Abbas, with his own security network loyal to himself, he could be a potential challenger. If this is a permanent fall from grace, it suggests stresses within the upper reaches of the PLO.