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Monday, July 6, 2009

Palestinian Authority launches crackdown on 'rogue Hamas infrastructure loyal only to Iran'

RAMALLAH — Palestinian sources said scores of Hamas detainees have been arrested in wake of the latest round of reconciliation talks with Fatah in Egypt in late June.   

The sources said the crackdown stemmed from the discovery of a Hamas plot to assassinate PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and leading aides, Middle East Newsline reported.

"There is a rogue Hamas infrastructure loyal only to Iran that is operating in the West Bank," a PA security source said. "Our operations are aimed against them."

The sources said more than 400 Hamas operatives were detained in June 2009, many of them suspected members of the Islamic military wing. They said the detainees were financed by Iran to establish insurgency cells in West Bank cities as part of a plot to track and kill PA leaders.


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Palestinian Legislative Council member Mahmoud Ramahi said nearly 430 Hamas members were arrested in June, which he called a record. Ramahi, a leading member of Hamas in the West Bank, said the PA crackdown was meant to pressure the Islamic opposition to stop its activities.

Hamas has dismissed PA claims of an Iranian-financed military infrastructure in the West Bank. Hamas spokespeople said many of those arrested over the last month included professors, politicians, journalists and mosque preachers.

In late June, PA leaders, including Abbas, accused Hamas of plotting to destroy the Fatah-dominated regime in the West Bank. PA secretary-general Tayeb Abdul Rahim said 10 Hamas military operatives were arrested and charged with planning to kill PA leaders on July 1. Abdul Rahim said the detainees were found to have possessed weapons as well as photographs of senior PA security officers.

One of the plotters was identified as Zaher Abu Jeba. The sources said Abu Jeba, arrested in Ramallah in mid-June, received three million euro from Hamas to kill Abbas.

"The Hamas leadership in the West Bank is not part of this plot," the source said. "This is something that is coming straight from Iran, with help from the Gaza Strip."



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