GAZA CITY — Hamas is plotting to kill Palestinian Authority Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas and other senior security officials, officials said.
Fatah leaders said Hamas has obtained information of the schedules of
leading PA officials, including Abbas. They said the information had been extracted through the infiltration of PA security agencies.
On Saturday, Hamas was accused of trying to assassinate the commander of
PA General Intelligence, Gen. Tareq Abu Rajab. Officials said a bomb blew up
in the elevator of Abu Rajab's office in the northern Gaza Strip, Middle East Newsline reported.
One of the general's bodyguards was killed. Abu Rajab as well as five
additional bodyguards were said to have been seriously wounded. The general
was taken to Israel for medical treatment.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources said Fatah chief Mohammed Dahlan had become
the leading target of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian security sources said Hamas has been steadily moving toward
the elimination of Dahlan in its campaign to control the Gaza Strip. The
sources said Hamas has assessed that killing or driving Dahlan into exile
would terminate the Fatah threat.
"Dahlan, with U.S. money, controls about 3,500 armed, equipped and
trained fighters," a security source said. "He's the only one Hamas fears."
In Ramallah, Abu Rajab's deputy, Col. Tawfiq Tirawi accused Hamas of
planning the assassination attempt. Tirawi did not present any evidence.
"Everything is possible," Tirawi said. "I don't rule anything out for
now."
Both Abbas as well as Interior Minister Said Siyam have ordered an
investigation. In 2004, Abu Rajab survived what was said to have been a
Hamas assassination plot.
Later, an Interior Ministry spokesman said Saturday's explosion was
caused by a grenade that fell from the belt of one of Abu Rajab's
bodyguards. The spokesman did not elaborate.
"Preliminary information points to the fact that a bomb was dropped by
one of Tareq Abu Rajab's companions,'' Interior Ministry spokesman Khalid
Abu Hilal said.
[In the Gaza Strip, the Israel Air Force fired a missile toward the car
of an Islamic Jihad commander. Mohammed Dahdouh, responsible for Jihad's
rocket production, and three members of his family were killed.]
Over the weekend, rival PA forces battled each other throughout the Gaza
Strip. On May 19, at least four people were injured in a shootout in Gaza
City between the new Hamas-sponsored anti-crime unit and police.
In Rafah, Hamas forces confronted the Presidential Guard, loyal to
Abbas. Hamas fighters rushed to the Rafah border terminal after PA customs
officers confiscated more than
$800,000 from Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, who arrived from Egypt. The
money was said to have come from donations from Arab states.
Tayeb Abdul Rahim, secretary-general of Abbas's office, said the PA
chairman does not object to the recruitment of insurgents into the security
services. Abdul Rahim said the insurgents must receive training and that
funding
must be approved by the Finance Ministry.
PA security sources said Siyam has agreed not to deploy the new
Hamas-aligned anti-crime force near other PA forces. The sources said the
decision was meant to end the fighting between PA units.
The new force, entitled "Security Forces Support System," was meant to
contain 3,000 officers. Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said the government has
prepared to absorb 2,000 recruits immediately.
"If need be we will increase the number of this force," Haniya said.
On Sunday, PA security forces prevented a bombing of Dahlan's leading
aide, Brig. Gen. Rashid Abu Shback. In 2004, Abu Shback succeeded Dahlan as
commander of the Preventive Security Agency, the most powerful PA force in
the Gaza Strip.
A 70-kilogram bomb was found along the road meant to be used by Abu
Shback near Gaza City. The sources said the route from Abu Shback's home to
his office has been checked daily for bombs.
In April, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas appointed Abu Shback to head three
security agencies under the control of the Interior Ministry. In response,
the new interior minister, a Hamas operative, created a competing security
force.
On May 20, the head of the PA General Intelligence agency was seriously
wounded by an explosion in his office north of Gaza City. Hamas was blamed
for the attack.
Since the Hamas victory in Palestinian Legislative Council elections in
January, Dahlan has become the leading opponent of the Islamic movement. He
has been addressing Gaza audiences nearly daily, attacking Hamas's agenda
and accusing its leaders of greed.
