Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), the head of Fatah, announced on Thursday night that he is dissolving the government of the PA. By 
Rice called Abbas and expressed her government's support for the forces of Fatah.
dismissing the PA's legislative head, Ismail Haniyeh, and other Hamas officials, Abbas formally ended the power-sharing agreement between Hamas and Fatah. The agreement had been in effect for just a few months and was marked by intermittent violence between the two groups from the start.
A spokesman for Abbas, Tayeb Abdel-Rahim, said, "The President is determined to go back to the Palestinian public, when the situation allows that." Abu Mazen is intending to form a new government, Abdel-Rahim explained.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Abbas and expressed her government's support for the forces of Fatah, which she defined as "moderate."
Earlier Thursday, the Islamist Hamas terrorist group completed its takeover of Gaza, sending the surviving local Fatah leaders fleeing across the border to Egypt and by boat into the Mediterranean Sea. In what was the Fatah-run General Security Services building in Gaza City, Hamas gunmen claimed to have found documents proving strong ties between Fatah and the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Spokesmen for Hamas said they would show the documents on local television on Thursday night.
All "Fatah traitors" who refuse to surrender will be killed, a Hamas spokesman recently made clear. Hamas gave Fatah gunmen a Friday deadline to turn over all their weapons, but Fatah terrorists have been blowing up their own weapons caches and headquarters in various parts of Gaza to prevent their falling into Hamas' hands.
The Executive Committee of the PLO recommended that Abbas ask for international protection against Hamas. During a meeting in Ramallah on Thursday, the committee
PLO leaders wanted "to protect the Hamas activists from angry Fatah members," they said.
authorized Abbas "to take whatever decision he judges appropriate," according to one committee member. Abbas said he plans to declare a state of emergency in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
In Judea and Samaria, Fatah gunmen arrested dozens of Hamas activists during the day Thursday. According to spokesmen of Abbas' Fatah, the sweeping arrests were for the detainees' own protection. PLO leaders wanted "to protect the Hamas activists from angry Fatah members," they said.
Senior Fatah terrorist Abu Udai, however, seemed to disagree, telling the Bethlehem-based Maan news service that "Hamas is now a legally prohibited movement... Its activities are banned, and Hamas members will be punished if they participated in any Hamas activity." On Tuesday, Abu Udai threatened to "wipe out the entire leadership and all the activists of Hamas in the West Bank."
Rice called Abbas and expressed her government's support for the forces of Fatah.
dismissing the PA's legislative head, Ismail Haniyeh, and other Hamas officials, Abbas formally ended the power-sharing agreement between Hamas and Fatah. The agreement had been in effect for just a few months and was marked by intermittent violence between the two groups from the start. A spokesman for Abbas, Tayeb Abdel-Rahim, said, "The President is determined to go back to the Palestinian public, when the situation allows that." Abu Mazen is intending to form a new government, Abdel-Rahim explained.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Abbas and expressed her government's support for the forces of Fatah, which she defined as "moderate."
Earlier Thursday, the Islamist Hamas terrorist group completed its takeover of Gaza, sending the surviving local Fatah leaders fleeing across the border to Egypt and by boat into the Mediterranean Sea. In what was the Fatah-run General Security Services building in Gaza City, Hamas gunmen claimed to have found documents proving strong ties between Fatah and the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Spokesmen for Hamas said they would show the documents on local television on Thursday night.
All "Fatah traitors" who refuse to surrender will be killed, a Hamas spokesman recently made clear. Hamas gave Fatah gunmen a Friday deadline to turn over all their weapons, but Fatah terrorists have been blowing up their own weapons caches and headquarters in various parts of Gaza to prevent their falling into Hamas' hands.
The Executive Committee of the PLO recommended that Abbas ask for international protection against Hamas. During a meeting in Ramallah on Thursday, the committee
PLO leaders wanted "to protect the Hamas activists from angry Fatah members," they said.
authorized Abbas "to take whatever decision he judges appropriate," according to one committee member. Abbas said he plans to declare a state of emergency in Hamas-controlled Gaza. In Judea and Samaria, Fatah gunmen arrested dozens of Hamas activists during the day Thursday. According to spokesmen of Abbas' Fatah, the sweeping arrests were for the detainees' own protection. PLO leaders wanted "to protect the Hamas activists from angry Fatah members," they said.
Senior Fatah terrorist Abu Udai, however, seemed to disagree, telling the Bethlehem-based Maan news service that "Hamas is now a legally prohibited movement... Its activities are banned, and Hamas members will be punished if they participated in any Hamas activity." On Tuesday, Abu Udai threatened to "wipe out the entire leadership and all the activists of Hamas in the West Bank."