Last update - 20:34 25/05/2006

Israel agrees on arms transfer to Abbas' presidential guard
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/719885.html
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies


Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz accepted
recommendations from defense officials Thursday to transfer a limited amount
of weapons and ammunition to the Palestinian Authority's presidential guard in
light of growing threats to Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' life.

Senior defense sources said Thursday that the arms will be delivered to the
guard by way of a third-party state solely for the purposes of protecting
Abbas.

The move is seen as a response to the continued strengthening of Islamic
organizations, which have managed to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip.

Last week, Haaretz reported that the Islamic Jihad has formulated a plan to
assassinate the PA chairman.

Armed member of Fatah killed in Gaza clashes
A member of the Fatah-controlled Palestinian security forces was killed and
four others were wounded Thursday, doctors and witnesses said, in the latest
factional clashes in the Gaza Strip.

The shootout, which occurred on a major Gaza road, began when a group of
security officers riding in a car on their way from the funeral of top Gaza
security commander Nabil Hodhod clashed with members of the new militia.

Hodhod, who was loyal to Abbas' Fatah movement, was killed in a car bombing
Wednesday that left another man seriously wounded. No organization took
responsibility for the blast.

Both sides accused the other of firing first in Thursday's clash.

The violence is the latest in a string of gunfights, assassinations and
bombings between members of the Fatah-controlled security forces and a new
security 3,000-strong unit formed by Hamas to counter Fatah's control of the
streets.

The leaders of both sides appealed Thursday for calm, as they met to discuss
the future direction of peace talks with Israel and ways to end the internal
violence.

"We will not bring pain into your hears by having a Palestinian-on-Palestinian
struggle," Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas told
supporters in Gaza on Thursday. "Our difference is with the Israeli
occupation."

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah echoed Haniyeh`s sentiments: "The danger
has reached every house. Our national project is in severe danger."

Thursday's death is the tenth casualty caused by internal violence over the
past month.

On Wednesday, a Hamas activist was shot dead by Fatah activists in the
southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis. In another incident, four Hamas members were
abducted and later released after being shot in the legs. In the Nuseirat
refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, a bomb was found next to the home of a
Hamas activist.

The violence came despite six-hour talks Wednesday attended by Hamas and Fatah
leaders in Gaza aimed at stemming the violence.

"The two groups urge their members, grassroots supporters and sympathizers to
implement the agreement," Abbas loyalist Samir al-Mashhrawi told reporters
following the talks Wednesday, which were attended by Haniyeh.

Abbas has called for the new Hamas-led militia to be disbanded. Haniyeh,
however, said he saw progress in a proposal to incorporate it into the
Palestinian Authority's regular police forces.

"I will follow this issue in order to complete the legal procedures to
integrate the force in the Palestinian police apparatus," Haniyeh said.