Gunmen kill ex-Palestinian security chief
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-07 19:09

About 100 masked militants stormed the heavily guarded home of Gaza's former security chief Wednesday, dragged him outside in his pajamas and shot him, a challenge to the Palestinian Authority days before Israel was to hand over Gaza.

Palestinian police officers chase children away as they stand guard next to a bloodstain where former Palestinian security chief Moussa Arafat was shot and killed, near his home in Gaza City, early Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005. Dozens of Palestinian gunmen stormed the home of deposed Gaza security chief Moussa Arafat before dawn Wednesday and shot him to death, witnesses and police said. Arafat, 65, a cousin of the late leader, Yasser Arafat, was fired earlier this year by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. It was not immediately clear who the gunmen were. [AP]

Moussa Arafat, a 65-year-old cousin of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was killed after a 30-minute gunbattle with dozens of his bodyguards. The fighting with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles raged just a block from the Palestinian Preventive Security Service headquarters. The gunmen also kidnapped Arafat's oldest son, Manhal.

The Popular Resistance Committees, a group made up largely of former members of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, claimed responsibility. The group said it killed Arafat to punish him for alleged corruption after the Palestinian security forces had taken no action against him. They also accused him of collaborating with Israel.

"We have implemented God's law," a spokesman, Mohammed Abdel Al, told The Associated Press.

Palestinian officials said the killing was an attack on the government.

"He was a symbol of the authority," Palestinian Cabinet Minister Sufian Abu Zeideh told Israel Army Radio.

In the military-style attack on Arafat, gunmen overpowered dozens of bodyguards patrolling outside his four-story home in an upscale Gaza City neighborhood and tied them up. The attackers blew the iron gate off its hinges, Palestinian security officials said. After the attack, Arafat, still in his pajamas, was dragged outside and shot in the sandy street.

Palestinian police said three bodyguards were initially kidnapped, along with Manhal Arafat, but were later released. One bodyguard was injured by a bullet in the leg.

Residents said they heard more than two dozen loud explosions. The headquarters of the Preventive Security Service is just a block away, but security agents did not intervene. The security forces might have mistaken the shooting for one of the routine nightly training exercises militants stage in the area.

Palestinian security forces were put on high alert and Abbas vowed to track down the killers. He convened his top security officials.

The killing heightened concerns that Abbas and his weak security forces will not be able to restore order in the increasing lawless coastal strip where armed gangs control the streets.

Israel emptied all 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the northern West Bank two weeks ago and planned to hand over the area to the Palestinians on Sept. 15.

But in light of the chaos, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz recommended Wednesday that Israeli troops leave the Gaza Strip several days before that target date, a security official said on condition of anonymity because the government had not yet made a decision.

Sharon has maintained the pullout would strengthen Israel's security, reduce international pressure and solidify its hold on main West Bank settlements.

Abbas fired Moussa Arafat, who had many enemies and was the target of frequent corruption allegations, several months ago as part of government reforms.

Abdel Al said Arafat "was responsible for killing, stealing and blackmail."

"Now we have huge files about corrupt deals by Arafat and his son, Manhal, who is being interrogated and confessed to some of these corrupt deals," Abdel Al said in a telephone interview. Manhal is a senior security official.

Reporters touring the scene of Wednesday's killing were not permitted inside Arafat's house. There were drops of blood in the sandy street outside, but the house's facade appeared undamaged.

Arafat was a founder of the ruling Fatah movement and was a senior official in the Fatah Revolutionary Council, a top policy-making body. The council had been scheduled to meet later Wednesday.

After he was fired as security chief, Arafat was given the considerably less influential job of military adviser to Abbas.

He was a target of previous assassination attempts and always traveled in a heavily guarded convoy, using an armored limousine that once transported Yasser Arafat.

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