Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

oPt

OPT: Fatah militants set fire to parliament, government buildings

RAMALLAH, Jun 12, 2006 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Fatah militants on Monday night set fire to the Hamas-led cabinet offices and the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) building in the West Bank city of Ramallah, witnesses said.

Militants of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, armed wing of Fatah movement led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, broke into the cabinet offices and set it ablaze, while the PLC building was also torched.

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) dominated PLC and formed the cabinet themselves following its surprising victory over Fatah in the Jan. 25 parliamentary elections.

But the political disagreement between the two main rival factions resulted in increasing armed clashes and prompted Abbas to call a referendum on a statehood plan which implies recognition of Israel on July 26 after a national dialogue failed to reach agreement.

The Fatah loyalists said that they carried out arson because of anger over Hamas' attack on Fatah-dominated preventive security building in the southern Gaza town of Rafah earlier in the day.

Two Palestinians were killed in shootout when Hamas militants tried to storm the preventive security compound.

One Hamas militant was killed on Monday afternoon in Rafah during funeral of another Hamas militant who died Monday of his wounds sustained in clashes with Fatah two weeks ago.

The preventive security denied involvement in the killing of the Hamas militant, urging Hamas-led government to investigate the incident.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared state of emergency and ordered redeployment of security and police forces in the town to curb the rampage.

Tension between Fatah and Hamas has been on the rise since Hamas-led interior ministry deployed a 3,000-strong militia force in Gaza last month in a bid to restore order despite Abbas annulling its decision.