The Al Ahram Weekly has reported on the sporadic warfare that has erupted between forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Yasser Arafat and those opposing him. On Saturday, the PA sent an armed force to arrest rebel Fatah members and to order the dissolution of the grassroots Popular Resistance Committee militias, composed of members of Fatah, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
More ominously for local opposition groups, Hamas activists were, according to their leadership, targeted by Palestinian policemen, who shot and wounded three of them as they returned from a Saturday night attack against the community of Netzarim in Gaza. The next day, PA Military Intelligence headquarters in Gaza City was the scene of a four hour gun battle initiated by Arafat's nephew, Musa Arafat, and involving representatives of all Arab Palestinian factions. Yasser Arafat was forced to cut short meetings in the Gulf States in order to try and restore order in his jurisdiction and among his own family members.
Al Ahram also discussed possible successors to Arafat, disclosing that the PLO leader insisted on approving in advance every terrorist attack carried out by his Fatah organization. The paper said that Arafat's intention was to demean Marwan Barghouti, who heads Fatah in Judea and Samaria.
More ominously for local opposition groups, Hamas activists were, according to their leadership, targeted by Palestinian policemen, who shot and wounded three of them as they returned from a Saturday night attack against the community of Netzarim in Gaza. The next day, PA Military Intelligence headquarters in Gaza City was the scene of a four hour gun battle initiated by Arafat's nephew, Musa Arafat, and involving representatives of all Arab Palestinian factions. Yasser Arafat was forced to cut short meetings in the Gulf States in order to try and restore order in his jurisdiction and among his own family members.
Al Ahram also discussed possible successors to Arafat, disclosing that the PLO leader insisted on approving in advance every terrorist attack carried out by his Fatah organization. The paper said that Arafat's intention was to demean Marwan Barghouti, who heads Fatah in Judea and Samaria.