SUDAN: Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh dispells prospect of a civil war in the Occupied Territories

Despite the escalation of inter-Palestinian violence and rising tensions as a result of the political stalemate in the Occupied Territories, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday (December 13) dispelled the prospect of a civil war. His comment came amid growing tensions and violence in Gaza and the occupied West Bank between the governing Hamas and the rival Fatah faction of moderate President Mahmoud Abbas after attempts to form a national unity government failed. On Wednesday, unidentified gunmen dragged a judge from the Hamas Islamist movement out of a taxi and shot him dead in front of his courthouse in Gaza, increasing fears of a Palestinian civil war. Officials from the governing Hamas faction said Bassam al-Fara, 28, was a judge in a civil court but also a member of the group's armed wing. Unrest has increased since the killing of three young sons of one of Abbas's top intelligence officials in Gaza on Monday. No one claimed responsibility for the shooting of the judge. Hamas, which accuses Fatah of trying to topple its government, issued a statement blaming the killing on a Fatah "death squad". The sudden increase in violence coincided with a visit to Sudan of Haniyeh, who vowed during a news conference in Khartoum to track down and prosecute any one implicated in the recent string of murders in the territories. "The government will not stand idle in front this (the violence). The Ministry of interior and through the security organs is carefully following these crimes and we hope that these murderers will be apprehended and prosecuted," Haniyeh vowed. Some Abbas aides have said he might call for early elections in a speech on Saturday to break the deadlock and ease Western sanctions imposed on the government because of Hamas's refusal to recognise Israel and renounce violence. But they said he would leave the door open to talks. Abbas, a cautious leader, is probably reluctant to stoke tensions with dramatic announcements at a time when emotions are running high. Haniyeh also criticised the deployment in Gaza of security forces affiliated to Abbas, but dispelled the prospect of a civil war. "We affirm that civil war does not exist in our dictionary, structures and cultures or in the face of the challenges we face," Haniyeh added. Security forces loyal to Abbas traded gunfire with Hamas policemen in Gaza on Tuesday, wounding four people. Besides internal political unrest, Gaza is riven with clan fighting and a surge in crime following the Western aid embargo that has deepened poverty. Unity talks broke down over Hamas's rejection of Western demands that it recognise Israel, and its insistence on holding the interior and finance portfolios in a new government.

ITN Source | December 15, 2006

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