Abbas declares Hamas militia 'illegal'

Rival Palestinian factions fought gun battles in the Gaza Strip on Jan. 9 and at least five Hamas militants were wounded, Hamas officials said. Factional fighting has worsened since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called last month for early elections in his power struggle with the governing Hamas faction. Hamas says early polls would amount to a coup against its democratically elected government. Tensions rose further after Abbas declared illegal Hamas's nearly 6,000-strong Executive Force. Abbas ordered the Executive Force disbanded "in light of continued lawlessness and assassinations." It said its members would be treated as outlaws unless they were incorporated into forces commanded by the president. Hamas, which took control of the Palestinian government in March after beating Fatah in parliamentary elections called free and fair by Western observers, has vowed to defy Abbas's declaration by doubling the size of the Executive Force. Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled abu Hilal called Abbas' announcement "a green light to those who seek to shed the blood of the Executive Force members" and said the force would "deal firmly" with anyone who attacked it. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said the militia is legal and would continue to report to the Interior Ministry. "I am becoming completely convinced that there are those who don't want the Palestinian scene to enjoy calm and stability or to create the appropriate atmosphere for starting serious and deep dialogue aimed at reaching a national unity government," he said. Internecine violence between the two Palestinian factions has killed more than 30 people in less than a month. The latest factional violence saw the abductions of five Hamas gunmen–four from Hamas's armed wing and one from the Executive Force. The five were released hours later but their vehicles came under fire as they left the scene. At least two of the Hamas men were wounded. Hamas said three members of the Executive Force were also hurt when Fatah gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade at their vehicle. Fatah denied any role in the shootings. Just days before, there had been a rampage against Hamas supporters in the West Bank, where Fatah gunmen shot an office manager and a university professor in their legs and kidnapped a Hamas deputy mayor. Ehab Ghaiyatha, an Interior Ministry employee and Hamas supporter was seriously wounded by Fatah gunmen in the town of Ramallah on Jan. 6. Ghaiyatha said the assailants draped a black hood over his head, drove around with him for 15 minutes, dumped him into the street and then shot him in the legs. The attacks came two days after Hamas militiamen besieged the Gaza home of a Fatah commander, Col. Mohammed Ghayeb, killing him and seven bodyguards and seriously wounding his wife and brother in a rocket barrage. Hamas officials said Ghayeb had been responsible for the deaths of two of their fighters. "Hamas does not believe in national unity except as a slogan. Hamas's policy is based on excluding others and wiping out others," Abdel-Hakim Awad, a Fatah spokesman in Gaza, told a news conference. Abbas's presidential guard has about 3,700 men. With aid from the United States and its allies, Abbas hopes to expand it to 4,700 members in 12 to 18 months. Palestinian sources said it could grow to 10,000 members. The United States plans to provide $83 million in aid to help expand, train and equip the presidential guard, which receives arms from Egypt and Jordan. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to meet with Abbas this month to discuss efforts to weaken and isolate Hamas. Ismail Radwan, a Hamas spokesman, condemned US intervention. "It will only escalate the differences and increase the internal conflict," he said. "It will not achieve the American goal." Hamas is on the US State Department's list of terrorist organizations. The United States, Europe and Israel cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority government last year after Hamas won parliamentary elections, and said that the financial boycott would continue until Hamas accepts Israel's right to exist. The move has paralyzed the Palestinian government, whose employees, including Abbas' security forces, have since been paid only sporadically. The aid freeze–accompanied by Israel withholding customs duties collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority–has plunged the territories into what the World Bank has called their worst-ever economic crisis. Fatah and Hamas have been negotiating for months over forming a coalition amid hopes that a unity government would lead to the return of the badly-needed aid, but talks have collapsed over disagreements on who would hold key portfolios and Hamas's unwillingness to comply with Western demands.