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Palestinian Police march in show of Fatah loyalty
Hundreds of police officers loyal to the Palestinian president have marched in the Gaza Strip in a show of strength against Hamas security forces.
About 1,000 men marched through the streets of Gaza on Thursday, chanting: "We are the authority. We salute Abu Mazen."
Abu Mazen is the nom de guerre of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and head of the Fatah movement.
Their street protest was in response to Wednesday's deployment by Hamas of 3,000-fighters, mostly members of its military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, armed with assault rifles, grenades and missiles.
The policemen ran through the streets and conducted drills near Hamas patrols. The men were unarmed, but were followed by commanders in Jeeps, their weapons raised in the air.
They chanted: "Jerusalem, the president, the homeland," and clapped and whistled.
General Sulaiman Hilles, commander of the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank and Gaza, said the forces were deployed to send a message that "the Palestinian police are the only side that can maintain law and order".
Loyalty
However, the lines are not clearly drawn; some police officers also back Hamas.
Several hundred officers met Ismail Haniya, the prime minister, on Thursday and professed their loyalty to the Hamas-led government.
Haniya told them that the new unit was formed legally and that it would work alongside the security forces.
Saeb Erikat, an Abbas adviser, said that the president had asked the government to take the new unit off the streets immediately.
However, Haniya said the unit was legal and suggested it would not be disbanded.
Peace talks
The unprecedented Hamas-Fatah friction, including deadly drive-by ambushes against two Hamas gunmen in Gaza earlier in the week, came amid new efforts to explore a possible revival of peace talks with Israel.
Erikat said that Abbas was to hold talks on Sunday with Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, the first high-level meeting since Hamas came to power in March.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8925B915-9251-400F-950B-84527809A59E.htm
Abu Mazen is the nom de guerre of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and head of the Fatah movement.
Their street protest was in response to Wednesday's deployment by Hamas of 3,000-fighters, mostly members of its military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, armed with assault rifles, grenades and missiles.
The policemen ran through the streets and conducted drills near Hamas patrols. The men were unarmed, but were followed by commanders in Jeeps, their weapons raised in the air.
They chanted: "Jerusalem, the president, the homeland," and clapped and whistled.
General Sulaiman Hilles, commander of the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank and Gaza, said the forces were deployed to send a message that "the Palestinian police are the only side that can maintain law and order".
Loyalty
However, the lines are not clearly drawn; some police officers also back Hamas.
Several hundred officers met Ismail Haniya, the prime minister, on Thursday and professed their loyalty to the Hamas-led government.
Haniya told them that the new unit was formed legally and that it would work alongside the security forces.
Saeb Erikat, an Abbas adviser, said that the president had asked the government to take the new unit off the streets immediately.
However, Haniya said the unit was legal and suggested it would not be disbanded.
Peace talks
The unprecedented Hamas-Fatah friction, including deadly drive-by ambushes against two Hamas gunmen in Gaza earlier in the week, came amid new efforts to explore a possible revival of peace talks with Israel.
Erikat said that Abbas was to hold talks on Sunday with Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, the first high-level meeting since Hamas came to power in March.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8925B915-9251-400F-950B-84527809A59E.htm
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The stand-off between rival Palestinian forces continued yesterday after Hamas rejected a public call by President Mahmoud Abbas to disband its new militia in Gaza.
Relations between the factions remained tense - though without descending into open combat - after Fatah gunmen forced a Hamas minister to cut short a meeting in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem.
Saeb Erekat, the senior Palestinian negotiator and an ally of Mr Abbas, said the situation in Gaza was "very worrying". He said that Mr Abbas had ordered the deployment of regular Palestinian security forces, and had called for the removal of the other Hamas-linked forces from the streets. "I hope they will leave." said Mr Erekat. "If they don't leave, we are heading toward a serious crisis."
But the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, insisted that the new Hamas "back-up" force ordered on to the streets by the interior minister, Said Syam, had been formed "in accordance with the law" and claimed it had been approved by Mr Abbas. Both Mr Haniyeh and Mr Syam are leading figures in Hamas in Gaza.
Mr Haniyeh added: "This force will be according to the law and integrated into the security services. The force is not directed against anyone. As they were in the forefront of resistance, they are now protecting the land and security."
The deployment of the new paramilitary force, under the command of Jamal Abu Sam-hadana, a militant wanted by Israel, has triggered a new power struggle between Mr Abbas and the Hamas-led cabinet over who has ultimate control over the security forces. Egyptian officials yesterday began mediating between the two sides.
Militants in the new Hamas force refrained from reacting violently when police, deployed on the orders of Mr Abbas, marched near their patrols, clapping, whistling and chanting slogans such as, "We are the authority. We salute Abu Mazen [Mr Abbas]" and "Jerusalem, the president, the homeland." The police were unarmed but were followed by officers in jeeps carrying weapons.
More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article548114.ece