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Wednesday, February 17, 2010     GET REAL

Hamas resumes crackdown on Salafist militias in Gaza

GAZA CITY — The Hamas regime was said to have resumed its crackdown on Al Qaida-aligned groups in the Gaza Strip.   

Palestinian sources said Hamas security forces have raided suspected Salafist strongholds in the central and southern Gaza Strip. They said Hamas targets included commanders of suspected Salafist militias.

The sources said tension between the Al Qaida-aligned militias and Hamas worsened in 2010 amid a spate of attacks on Hamas security officers and others believed close to the regime. They said Hamas was trying to stop the Salafist militias from firing missiles and rockets into Israel.


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"We will not tolerate the arrest of any of our members," Abu Hamza Al Maqdasi, a Salafist leader, said on Feb. 10.

Al Maqdasi, who represents the Jihadiya Salafiya group, said Hamas forces were arresting prominent members. He cited a raid in the Shati refugee camp outside Gaza City in which Abu Mutassim Al Muqdasi, identified as a leading Al Qaida-aligned operative, was detained.

Al Muqdisi, also known as Mahmoud Taleb, was said to have been shot in the back during the raid on late Feb. 9. He said this marked the third time Taleb was arrested.

"His life is in danger," Al Maqdasi said.

"We emphasize that our resistance to the enemy will not stop," Abu Bara Al Masri, another Salafist leader, said.

Al Qaida-aligned groups have been blamed for a spate of bombings throughout the area of Gaza City in 2010. On Feb. 13, a monument of a late Palestinian insurgency leader was bombed and destroyed in the northern Gaza Strip refugee camp of Jabalya. About 10 days earlier, the monument to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist group, had been defaced.

Al Masri, however, said the explosions stemmed from a feud within Hamas security forces. He did not elaborate.

The Hamas Interior Ministry said Taleb was a suspect in the bombing campaign. Ministry spokesman Ihab Al Ghussein said Taleb was deemed a leading fugitive.

"The security authorities are investigating," Al Ghussein said.

Hamas has also been arresting foreigners linked to dissident groups. On Feb. 14, Hamas police arrested a British journalist, identified as Paul Martin, who had been covering the trial of an operative of the Abu Rish Brigades.

"The British journalist violated Palestinian law and the security of the state," Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Ihab Ghussein said.



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