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Hamas, Fatah supporters clash in Gaza
Students supporting the Fatah party and the radical Islamic group Hamas have clashed in Gaza, throwing stones at each other.
The clashes on Saturday began when dozens of Fatah supporters at Al-Azhar University, a strongly pro-Fatah institution, climbed on to the roof of a building, unfurled the party's yellow flag and began throwing rocks on students at the Islamic University, next door.
The Islamist students, supporters of Hamas, stoned them back.
At least 15 people were injured in the clashes.
The clashes came amidst escalating tensions between Hamas and the Fatah party of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.
Fatah accused Khalid Mishaal, the Hamas supreme, of being hysterical for saying on Friday, in a thinly veiled reference to Abbas, that he was part of a plot to undermine Hamas and remove it from power.
"We view Khalid Mishaal's speech with concern," a Fatah statement said, referring to an address to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters in a Palestinian refugee camp in a Damascus suburb.
"We can only describe this speech as divisive, because it aims to provoke tensions in the Palestinian territories and spark civil war."
War of words
The war of words began when Abbas vetoed a Hamas government decision to create a new special force of armed militants headed by a wanted resistance fighter.
The move, the first time Abbas has revoked decisions of the new Hamas-led government, followed US criticism of the security appointment and Israeli threats to target the fighter in question.
In response, Mishaal told his audience: "What is happening in Palestine is a policy carried out by a parallel government, a counter-government which deprives us of our prerogatives and the people of their rights. It is a plot.
"A certain part of our people is plotting against us. They are carrying out a premeditated plan which is aimed at our undoing."
In its harsh response, Fatah said the speech was by "a man whose ambition is and always has been to cause Palestinian blood to flow ... while he lives in (Damascus exile) and benefits from the experiences of certain people to provoke divisions and civil wars."
It described Mishaal's remarks as "hysterical", and the speech as "full of plots, calumnies, lies and deception".
Since Friday night, pro-Abbas groups have been demonstrating in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Around 500 supporters marched in the West Bank city of Ramallah, shouting: "Long live President Abbas" and "Khaled Mishaal wants to start a civil war".
In Nablus, demonstrators shouted: "Mishaal has sold out to Syria and Iran," while others temporarily occupied the courthouse and demanded an apology.
Uneasy cohabitation
Abbas and Hamas have been sharing power uneasily since Mishaal's group won an upset victory in January general elections, unseating Fatah and ending its grip on power of more than a decade.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B301418E-DEFC-48D2-A3B5-512779102075.htm
The Islamist students, supporters of Hamas, stoned them back.
At least 15 people were injured in the clashes.
The clashes came amidst escalating tensions between Hamas and the Fatah party of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.
Fatah accused Khalid Mishaal, the Hamas supreme, of being hysterical for saying on Friday, in a thinly veiled reference to Abbas, that he was part of a plot to undermine Hamas and remove it from power.
"We view Khalid Mishaal's speech with concern," a Fatah statement said, referring to an address to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters in a Palestinian refugee camp in a Damascus suburb.
"We can only describe this speech as divisive, because it aims to provoke tensions in the Palestinian territories and spark civil war."
War of words
The war of words began when Abbas vetoed a Hamas government decision to create a new special force of armed militants headed by a wanted resistance fighter.
The move, the first time Abbas has revoked decisions of the new Hamas-led government, followed US criticism of the security appointment and Israeli threats to target the fighter in question.
In response, Mishaal told his audience: "What is happening in Palestine is a policy carried out by a parallel government, a counter-government which deprives us of our prerogatives and the people of their rights. It is a plot.
"A certain part of our people is plotting against us. They are carrying out a premeditated plan which is aimed at our undoing."
In its harsh response, Fatah said the speech was by "a man whose ambition is and always has been to cause Palestinian blood to flow ... while he lives in (Damascus exile) and benefits from the experiences of certain people to provoke divisions and civil wars."
It described Mishaal's remarks as "hysterical", and the speech as "full of plots, calumnies, lies and deception".
Since Friday night, pro-Abbas groups have been demonstrating in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Around 500 supporters marched in the West Bank city of Ramallah, shouting: "Long live President Abbas" and "Khaled Mishaal wants to start a civil war".
In Nablus, demonstrators shouted: "Mishaal has sold out to Syria and Iran," while others temporarily occupied the courthouse and demanded an apology.
Uneasy cohabitation
Abbas and Hamas have been sharing power uneasily since Mishaal's group won an upset victory in January general elections, unseating Fatah and ending its grip on power of more than a decade.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B301418E-DEFC-48D2-A3B5-512779102075.htm
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The two sides fought around their campuses, throwing stones and homemade explosives and exchanging gunfire.
Relations between the two factions have worsened since Hamas came to power.
On Friday, Palestinian Authority president and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas vetoed Hamas government plans for a new militia security force.
Plot claims
Mr Abbas' decision brought searing condemnation from Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal who talked of a plot against the Hamas administration.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4934524.stm
Fifteen people were wounded after gunmen from the ruling Hamas and its Fatah rivals battled each other with bullets, hand grenades and firebombs in Gaza City as senior officials from the two groups met urgently to try to bridge a rift that threatens President Mahmoud Abbas’ efforts to keep the West from shunning the Palestinians over Hamas’ violently anti-Israel ideology.
The clashes in Gaza — and mass Fatah protests across the West Bank — broke out after Hamas political chief, Khaled Meshaal, accused Abbas of “plotting” against his group by vetoing its plan to create a security force made up of Palestinian fighters. “We can understand that Israel and America are persecuting us, and seeking ways to besiege and starve us, but what about the sons of our people who are plotting against us, who are following a studied plan to make us fail,” Meshaal said late Friday from his base in Syria.
Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, its main decision-making body, promptly issued a statement accusing Meshaal of “igniting and preparing for civil war.” And throughout yesterday, Fatah loyalists took to the streets, protesting Meshaal’s remarks and demanding an apology.
More
http://arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=81131&d=23&m=4&y=2006