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Gunmen fire at Abbas' headquarters
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-31 08:55
Palestinian militants fired Wednesday at Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas'
West Bank headquarters while he was in the compound, but he was not injured,
security officials said.
Later, the 15 gunmen — who said they belong to an armed group linked to the
ruling Fatah movement — went on a shooting rampage throughout the city of
Ramallah, damaging several restaurants and forcing shops to close, witnesses and
officials said.
A
Palestinian gunman, a member of Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, uses his mobile
phone next to a burning tire closing the street in the West Bank city of
Ramallah Thursday, March 31, 2005. A group of Palestinian militants fired
Wednesday at Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' West Bank headquarters
while he was in the compound, but he was not injured, security officials
said. [AP] | Internal fighting has plagued
the Palestinian territories for months, largely the result of a breakdown in
authority and command caused by more than four years of fighting with Israel
that severely debilitated the security forces and other Palestinian Authority
institutions.
Abbas — who was elected president in a Jan. 9 vote after the November death
of Yasser Arafat — has vowed to bring law and order to Palestinian areas, and
reform his overlapping and corruption-plagued security forces.
The gunmen — members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades — said they went on
their rampage after Palestinian security officials forced six of them out of the
Ramallah headquarters, where they had sought refuge after Israel began hunting
down fugitives shortly after violence erupted in September 2000.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) arrives at his
headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 30,
2005.[Reuters] | Arafat had allowed more than 20 fugitives to remain in his compound, and
Abbas had followed suit.
A Palestinian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
security forces asked the six militants to either hand over their weapons or
leave the compound after "they were involved in kidnappings, blackmailing,
harming people, shooting them."
"They were warned many times to stop their behavior and actions," the
official said.
Another security official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
security forces had still not decided how to handle the militants but were
"considering taking harsh steps against them."
"They have crossed the red line. They attacked the presidential headquarters.
They are defying the Palestinian Authority and now we have to take harsh steps
against them, otherwise they will control the city and spread chaos," the
official said.
An Al Aqsa spokesman, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, denied the
gunmen belonged to his group and called them "criminals who should be in
jail."
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