PM calls for unity as Hamas, Fatah trade fire

Middle East:Following clashes yesterday in Gaza and the West Bank between Hamas and Fatah, Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh called for national unity.

Addressing a rally of 100,000 supporters celebrating the 19th anniversary of the movement's founding, he also warned that Hamas members would fight for their political beliefs.

The fighting flared after fundamentalist Hamas accused secular Fatah of trying to assassinate Mr Haniyeh late on Thursday as his convoy sped away from the border crossing at Rafah where he entered Gaza from Egypt.

One of his bodyguards was killed and his son was wounded when Fatah-loyalist presidential guards skirmished with Hamas gunmen near the terminal.

In the morning, security men fired on Hamas supporters in Ramallah, injuring 35.

Later, while scores of Hamas gunmen armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers deployed in Gaza city, masked Hamas fighters traded fire with police at a post near the home of former security chief Muhammad Dahlan.

Hamas legislator Mushir al-Masri accused Mr Dahlan of responsibility for the assassination attempt on Mr Haniyeh.

Mr Dahlan, who led a crack-down on Hamas following the creation of the Palestinian Authority in the mid-90s, denied the charge.

The head of Fatah, president Mahmoud Abbas, said he "regretted" the attack.

But Hamas demanded that he detain those responsible and rein in Fatah elements that have been engaged with Hamas gunmen in tit-for-tat strikes over the past six months.

In Gaza earlier this week, three sons of a Fatah officer were killed on their way to school and a judge with Hamas connections was killed outside his court.

On Thursday, another Hamas activist was shot and critically wounded in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Mr Haniyeh and his entourage were detained at the crossing for seven hours on Thursday because Israel refused to allow him to carry $35 million (€26.4m) in cash into the Strip.

The money, collected on a tour of the region, was reportedly handed over to the Arab League, which transmits Arab-raised funds to Mr Abbas's office rather than the government.

The Palestinian Authority has not been able to pay employees' wages since last March when Israel and the West imposed a financial boycott in response to the formation of a government by Hamas, which refuses to recognise Israel.

Because of the embargo and the siege imposed by Israel, 70 per cent of Gazans live below the poverty line.

Mr Abbas announced last month that he was breaking off negotiations with Hamas on the formation of a national unity government because the parties could not agree on a programme for government or the distribution of ministries.

Although under pressure from Fatah and western powers to call for early presidential and parliamentary elections, he has refused to do so.

Such a move would risk an explosion with Hamas which argues that since the current parliament's term ends in 2001, a new election would amount to a coup.

While the political vacuum persists, the Palestinian territories edge towards the civil war Fatah and Hamas leaders seek to avoid.