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Gunmen attack Palestinian official in Gaza, killing 5
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a car in Gaza City in a drive by shooting that killed a top Palestinian security officer and four of his bodyguards, senior Palestinian security officials said.The brazen mid-afternoon attack occurred near the Beach refugee camp, not far from the home of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The gunmen, driving a sports utility vehicle, targeted a gray Audi belonging to Brig. Gen. Jad Tayeh, the head of international coordination in the Palestinian intelligence service, spraying dozens of bullets into the car, said Khaled Abu Hilal, interior ministry spokesman. Tayeh was killed along with four bodyguards. The motive for the attack was not immediately clear, though officials speculated that it could be an internal feud within the intelligence service. Security officials said the attackers took a black briefcase Tayeh was carrying. "This crime and its timing is a dangerous message. We won't accept it or stay silent," said Interior Minister Said Siyam. Siyam said the attack appeared timed to disrupt negotiations to form a national unity government. Gaza has been wracked for much of the year by internal violence between militants from Hamas, which won Palestinian parliamentary elections in January, and those affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, which controls the security services. The internal fighting ebbed after Israel began a widescale offensive into Gaza in response to a June 25 attack by Hamas-linked militants that led to the capture of an Israeli soldier. Earlier this week, Abbas and Haniyeh, of Hamas, announced that they would form a national unity government in an effort to end sanctions against the Palestinian Authority. Many Palestinians hoped that the agreement would also end the internal tensions. Also Friday, a small explosion caused minor damage in a courtyard outside a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City, church workers said. The early morning blast appeared to have been caused by a small, homemade explosive device, which damaged a door and caused minor damage to the floor and walls, church workers said. No one was injured. A second explosion hit the church hours later and a concussion grenade was thrown near the church in the afternoon. Neither of those blasts caused any damage, but church officials worried that the attacks were retaliation for remarks that Pope Benedict XVI made Tuesday that angered Muslims. "This is the first time this has ever happened to our church," said the church's priest, Rev. Artinious Alexious. "We don't know why they have done this. We are Greek Orthodox and have no relation to the Pope." Hossam Taweel, a Christian lawmaker and representative of Gaza's Christians, said there was no firm link between the attacks and the controversy over the Pope. "We deal with this incident as a criminal activity and not as a sectarian act," he said. Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-09-15 |
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