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Kidnapping of Israeli Indicates Hamas Rift
The abduction of an Israeli soldier has laid bare deep rifts inside Hamas, with militants from the group claiming responsibility and Palestinian government officials insisting they knew nothing of the operation. Hamas leaders hotly denied a split. But the working assumption of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is that Hamas' exiled leader gave the green light for the raid without consulting the Hamas-led government, two senior Abbas aides told The Associated Press.
That's easy to fix. Meshaal obviously needs to come back straightaway to Gaza to iron this whole mess out. Long distance communication gets so garbled, you know.
In the power struggle between followers of the exiled Khaled Mashaal and more moderate leaders in Gaza, Mashaal's forces have the upper hand because they control the purse strings that keep Hamas afloat, said the aides. They spoke on condition of anonymity because their observations were not official policy. Hamas' military wind, known as the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and two other groups tied to Hamas — the Popular Resistance Committees and the Army of Islam — claimed responsibility for kidnapping Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Shalit, 19, the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in 12 years, was seized in Israel early Sunday in a raid that killed two other soldiers and three militants.

The abduction raised the specter of an overwhelming Israeli assault on Gaza, and set off a frenzied diplomatic push to win Shalit's freedom. Abbas, a moderate who was elected separately from Hamas, spoke with 19 foreign leaders to enlist their help. Most significant, according to the Abbas aides, was his call to President Bashar Assad of Syria, whose country shelters Mashaal and who is believed to have influence over the Hamas leader.
Posted by: Fred 2006-06-27
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=157348