Palestinian sources said PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas sent PA security chief Brig. Gen. Jibril Rajoub to Cairo and Damascus to discussion reconciliation with Hamas. In August, Rajoub was said to have met Hamas politburo chief Khaled Masha'al in Damascus.

"Rajoub is playing both sides of the fence, probably because he sees Abbas as a transitional figure who will leave over the next few months," a source said.

Still, none of the exiled Fatah leaders have agreed to settle in the West Bank, the sources said. Instead, Gheneim and Afaneh demanded that Abbas set a date for a Fatah conference as well as rescind his decision to abandon the war against Israel.

"Gheneim and Afaneh blame Abbas for the failure of Fatah in the 2006 elections and the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip," the source said.

In contrast, the United States was said to favor PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to replace Abbas. The Qatari daily Al Sharq said the United States has also abandoned efforts to promote former Fatah security chief Mohammed Dahlan as a successor to the PA chairman.

Abbas has been urging his Fatah allies to settle in the West Bank as part of a succession effort.

Palestinian sources said Abbas has been meeting exiled Fatah leaders around the Middle East to facilitate his retirement. They said Abbas has been discussing a successor selected from the Old Guard with members of the PLO Executive Council.

"The purpose is to keep the PA leadership within the Fatah Old Guard," a source said.

The sources said Abbas was intent on stopping imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti from being appointed PA chairman. They said Abbas has pledged to retire ahead of the next elections, expected to take place in late 2008.

On Aug. 15, Abbas met Mohammed Gheneim, head of the Fatah mobilization office, and Palestinian Liberation Army Gen. Ahmad Afaneh, who commanded troops in Lebanon. During a meeting in Amman, Abbas was said to have urged both men to relocate to the West Bank, and offered Gheneim to become the Fatah candidate in the next elections for PA chairman.

PLO foreign affairs chief Farouq Khaddoumy boycotted the Amman meeting, which was also opposed by many Fatah leaders in the West Bank. Palestinian sources said relations between Khaddoumy and Abbas have grown increasingly tense over the last few months.

Meanwhile, the new Hamas regime has sought to crack down on a leading clan in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas's Executive Force was said to have pressured the Dughmoush clan to surrender scores of unlicensed weapons to the Interior Ministry. Hamas officials said EF raided Dughmoush strongholds in Gaza City and arrested several key operatives in an effort to impose control over the clan, with an estimated 15,000 members and supporters.

EF spokesman Issam Shahwan said the force confiscated 60 assault rifles from the Dughmoush clan. Shahwan said the clan was holding additional weapons.

"EF will not allow anybody to exploit any family or organization to restore the chaotic situation," Shahwan said.

[On Tuesday, Palestinian gunners fired mortars into Israel. There were no reports of injuries.]

Later, Dughmoush leaders denied that EF confiscated their weapons. They said seven weapons were transferred to EF in wake of several meetings, the latest of which took place on Aug. 16.

Salah Dughmoush, a leading clan member, said EF forces laid siege several times to the family's stronghold in Gaza City. Dughmoush said EF had been searching for a clan fighter in connection with the Hamas-Fatah war in June 2007.

Palestinian sources said Dughmoush has recruited up to 4,000 fighters in and around Gaza City. The sources said Dughmoush controls most of the illegal drugs, abduction rings and car theft in the central and northern Gaza Strip. In July, Hamas forced Dughmoush to surrender BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, abducted by the clan in March.

Executive Force commander Jamal Jurrah said his unit has been detaining suspected criminals connected to Palestinian militias, including clan members loyal to Fatah. Jurrah told the Gaza City-based daily Al Yawmiya that Fatah members have been arrested on criminal rather than political charges.

"There are no Fatah prisoners, and if there are, they are there for criminal rather than political reasons," Jurrah said. "Any arrest of Fatah members is because of criminal reasons, not because they are Fatah members. They have broken the law or assaulted the Executive Force."