Reuters
GAZA: Fatah gunmen threatened on Tuesday to kill leaders of the governing Hamas group, escalating a power struggle marked by the worst internal violence in Gaza and the West Bank since the Palestinian Authority was created in 1994. On a visit to the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged an end to the bloodshed that has coincided with calls by Washington s Arab allies to restart Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. Twelve Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 wounded in two days of clashes in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank between the Fatah faction of President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Fatah, said it held Hamas Damascus-based political chief Khaled Meshaal, Interior Minister Saeed Seyam and senior Interior Ministry official Youssef Al-Zahar responsible for the deaths. We in Al-Aqsa announce, with all might and frankness, the ruling of the people in the homeland and in the diaspora, to execute the head of the sedition, Khaled Meshaal, Saeed Seyam and Youssef Al-Zahar, and we will execute this ruling so those filthy people can be made an example, a statement said. Abbas has been locked in an increasingly bitter power struggle with Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas over stalled efforts to form a unity government. Innocent Palestinians are caught … in the crossfire and we urge all parties to stop, Rice said in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Rice, who is also visiting Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories, said the Palestinians needed a government committed to already existing international frameworks for peace talks, including recognising Israel and renouncing the use of violence. Haniyeh, repeating a call for an end to internal violence and a return to talks on a unity government, accused Rice of trying to divide and rule. He urged Arab and Muslim nations not to be dragged into following the interests and plans of the U.S. administration. Hamas, which advocates Israel s destruction, defeated Fatah in elections in January. The victory led to a cut-off of Western aid to the Palestinian Authority and deep economic crisis in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank. Responding to Al-Aqsa s threat against his life, Zahar said it was not representative of the group but the work of coup seekers who want to achieve what [Israel] failed to do – liquidate Islamists serving the homeland . Hamas legislator Mushir Al-Masri said Hamas would not show mercy if any of its top officials were targeted. A spokesman for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Gaza declined to say whether the statement, sent to Reuters, represented the views of the entire group or certain factions. He described the threat as a natural response after Seyam ordered his forces to take to the streets of Gaza on Sunday to confront striking policemen demanding overdue salaries.
