Hamas-Fatah Violence Continues; 20 Dead

01/27/2007

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Gunmen armed with mortars and grenades fought in several areas of Gaza City on Saturday, killing two men on the third straight day of factional clashes linked to the power struggle over the Palestinian government.

The deaths brought to 20 the number of Palestinians killed since late Thursday, and at least 66 people were wounded, medical officials said. The rival Hamas and Fatah movements traded angry accusations, and each held several supporters of the other side hostage.

The violence froze talks about bringing Fatah into the Hamas-led government, negotiators said. Fatah's leader, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said he would go ahead with his plan to call early elections if the coalition negotiations fail to produce results within two to three weeks.

The Gaza fighting, which started late Thursday, was among the deadliest in nearly two months.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas called for calm, but in a clear jab at Abbas, criticized "troublemakers who are trying to veer away from the path of our people" by receiving "dirty American funding and arms." The U.S. recently pledged more than $80 million to help bolster Abbas' forces.

Streets in the hardest-hit neighborhoods were deserted Saturday, and only bakeries and grocery stores open for business. Al Azhar University called off exams, and the Interior Ministry told its employees to go home.

A gun battle erupted Saturday near the Islamic University, killing one man, according to hospital officials. In a firefight elsewhere in the city, a Palestinian policeman was killed.

Before dawn Saturday, Hamas gunmen fired mortars at the Abbas-allied Preventive Security Service headquarters and at the home of the force's chief, Rashid Abu Shbak, officials said.

In fighting around the compound on Friday, six Hamas gunmen were killed and a seventh died Saturday of wounds sustained in that battle, said Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha. He accused Fatah loyalists of storming a mosque near the security headquarters and executing a senior Hamas activist inside while he was reading the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

Fatah denied it had stormed the mosque, but said Hamas gunmen had used the building as a base for attacking the security headquarters.

Mediators from two small factions, meanwhile, tried to win the release of hostages taken by the two sides; Fatah was holding 23 Hamas supporters, while Hamas held about 16 Fatah loyalists hostage, officials from the two groups said. Kidnappings have become a common tactic during the infighting. In all cases so far, hostages have been released unharmed.

Tensions have been high since Hamas swept parliamentary elections in January 2006, ending four decades of Fatah rule.

In its election campaign, Hamas promised to root out corruption and improve social services, but its government has been paralyzed by an international boycott and has struggled to pay the salaries of 165,000 civil servants, including some 80,000 members of the security forces, most loyal to Abbas.

A senior Abbas aide said Saturday that the president will start paying some security forces' salaries.

The aide, Rafiq Husseini, said Abbas will pay the salaries from a fund of $152 million, including $100 million in tax rebates recently transferred by Israel, which froze the money after Hamas took power.

Israel and Western donors have cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to the Palestinian government, demanding Hamas renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist. Hamas has rejected the conditions, despite deepening poverty in the West Bank and Gaza caused by the sanctions.

The international community has rerouted some of the aid to the moderate Abbas.

Seeking a way out of the crisis, Abbas has called on Hamas to join Fatah in a moderate coalition government. Abbas, who was elected separately, hopes a moderate platform will get the sanctions lifted and allow him to restart peace talks with Israel.

Abbas has threatened to order early elections, but Hamas has said it would boycott a new vote. Abbas' threat to call new elections, along with the deadlock in unity talks, has fueled the factional violence. A poll published Saturday indicated Palestinians are evenly divided over the election plan.