MIDDLE EAST: Palestinians march en masse in Gaza in support of PM Haniyeh ; Amnesty delegation visits West Bank anti-barrier protest

Tens of thousands of Hamas supporters on Friday (December 8) demanded that Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh head any Palestinian unity government despite a deal for him to step aside as a way of restoring Western aid. The public show of support across Gaza for Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, puts pressure on the ruling militant movement to retain him as their candidate to lead a possible new cabinet. That would further complicate unity government talks that moderate President Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah faction has said were already at a dead end. "We affirm by this great tremendous rally our request that (Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail) Abu Al-Abed Haniyeh will be the prime minster of the future government, whether this government or any unity government, because Ismail Haniyeh is well liked and respected by all Palestinians," Ismail Rudwan, a Hamas spokesman, told one rally of thousands of people. A similar call was made at other rallies that followed Friday prayers. Haniyeh is currently visiting Iran. Hamas and Fatah had agreed last month that Haniyeh would not be prime minister of any unity government. That job was expected to go to a Gaza academic. Unity talks have since foundered, partly over disputes over control of key ministries. Abbas's aides say the president might decide to sack the government or call fresh elections if no solution is found. Rudwan al-Akhras, a spokesman for the Fatah parliament bloc, brushed off the demands within Hamas for Haniyeh to stay on. Hamas trounced the once dominant Fatah in January elections, sparking a bitter power struggle with Abbas. Palestinians had hoped a unity government could lead to the lifting of Western sanctions that were imposed on the Hamas government over its refusal to recognise Israel and renounce violence. The embargo has prevented the Hamas administration from paying full salaries to government workers, deepening a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories. Meanwhile in the West Bank, Secretary General of Amnesty International Irene Khan visited the village of Beilin to attend a weekly protest against the barrier Israel is erecting across the West Bank to separate itself from Palestinian territories. Khan is leading a mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories to asses human rights issues in the region-torn conflict. Khan and her delegation members witnessed Palestinian villagers, Israeli and foreign peace activists as they confronted Israeli soldiers at the barrier's construction site. Several dozen protesters marched from the village towards the construction site at the barrier, but stopped short in front of Israeli troops who closed off the area. Soldiers and demonstrators stood on both sides of a barb wire fence while protesters chanted and held signs calling for the end of Israeli occupation. "Amnesty International came here today to express our solidarity with the people of Beilin who are making a peaceful protest against the building of the wall which will separate them from their land and their livelihoods. We have watched the people demonstrate but unfortunately we have also watched shootings and tensions here which is unfortunate because it show the way in which the people's right to protest is also not possible in this situation," Khan told reporters as sounds of gunfire were heard behind her. Israel began building what is to be a 670-km long barrier in 2002, describing it as a security measure to stop Palestinian militants and suicide bombers from infiltrating its cities. Palestinians see the barrier, that in some parts cuts through the occupied territory, a land grab.

ITN Source | December 8, 2006

Tags:. .separate. .movement. .itself. .measure. .administration