Armed violence breaks out between factions of Palestinian Authority

RAMALLAH — Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been swept by what Palestinians term a wave of lawlessness as open feuds have erupted within the Palestinian Authority.

The feuds are reported throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They include clashes between security forces.

The ruling Fatah movement and opposition Islamic groups have urged PA Chairman Yasser Arafat in a letter to "clean up the Palestinian house by rooting out financial and administrative corruption, and to bring to due process all those involved." Arafat was said to have given an encouraging response, Palestinian sources said.

Over the weekend, the clashes continued. On late Friday, 50 armed Palestinians attacked a pool hall in Gaza City that belonged to a PA security official, Jihad Abu Samadaneh. The gang destroyed property and engaged in a shootout with members of another security force that arrived to stop the raid.

Eighteen people were arrested in the clash that was described as so violent that Palestinians thought Israeli troops had invaded the city. PA sources said the gang came from Khan Yunis and their convoy of 10 cars were allowed to pass an Israeli military checkpoint.

"What is taking place is part of the criminality that has infiltrated our movement with the aim of turning the Palestinian areas into a state of chaos," Tawfiq Abu Khusa, a leading Gaza journalist, said.

In Gaza, PA Chairman Yasser Arafat has been battling high-level corruption in the police. Arafat has ordered appointments of new supervisors meant to crack down on the prostitution rings run by senior officers.

PA sources said the wave of lawlessness is behind much of the killings of so-called collaborators with Israel. They said most of those killed by Fatah gangs were members of rival groups without connection to Israel. The latest killing took place in the West Bank city of Nablus, when Samir Bakri, 46, was shot dead outside his home by the gunmen.

Hours later on Saturday, relatives and friends of Bakri fired semi-automatic rifles in the air in the center of Nablus to protest the killing.

Palestinian legislator Saleh Abdul Jawad has warned that PA security forces have done away with all semblance of law and order and have taken over the streets. Abdul Jawad submitted an article that was never published in the Palestinian press that warned of what he termed the "militarization of the uprising."

Palestinian Legislative Council member Hussam Khader agreed. A Fatah leader from the Nablus-area Balata refugee camp, Khader said the current revolt should also be aimed to obtain democracy and human rights.

"Unless this revolt achieves internal reform of Palestinian society it cannot be deemed a success," Khader said.