Nidal Al-mughrabi - Reuters, with files from Agence France-Presse - Monday, January 08, 2007

Palestinian deadlock: Abbas supporters told to `prepare` for election
 
GAZA - Tens of thousands of supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas`s Fatah party rallied in the Gaza Strip yesterday, putting on a show of force in the stronghold of the governing Hamas Islamist movement.

The two factions have been locked in a violent power struggle that some Palestinians fear could spark civil war.

The internal unrest has worsened since Mr. Abbas called last month for early elections to break a political deadlock with Hamas.

Mr. Abbas repeated those calls yesterday.

"I will not go back on holding early parliamentary and presidential elections," Eissa Karaqaa, a senior Fatah official, quoted Mr. Abbas as telling the closed-door meeting in Bethlehem yesterday.

"This plan is not a tactic. All paths to forming a government of national unity are closed and there is no other choice except these elections," Mr. Abbas said, adding that Fatah should "prepare" for the polls.

The Palestinian leader first issued his call for early elections on Dec. 16, sparking armed clashes between Fatah and Hamas supporters that killed 15 people in Gaza before a truce was reached four days later.

Simmering factional tensions boiled over into armed clashes again last Wednesday, killing 16 people and wounding more than 70 since.

Israel weighed in on the Palestinian tensions yesterday, with deputy prime minister Shimon Peres warning that neither Fatah nor Hamas seemed fully in control of their forces.

"Both sides are trying to prevent civil war, but I`m not sure they`re in full control of their forces," Mr. Peres told reporters before the weekly Cabinet meeting.

"Clearly, civil war would be a tragedy for Palestinians, for peace and for Israel," the deputy prime minister added.

Yesterday`s rally in Gaza`s main stadium was called to mark the 42nd anniversary of the once-dominant Fatah movement, which suffered a surprise loss to Hamas in parliamentary elections a year ago.

"We do not want a civil war and we reject civil war. But I tell you that our blood is not an open target for anyone," senior Abbas aide Tayeb Abdel-Rahim said in a speech on behalf of the president, a moderate.

Witnesses put the crowd at tens of thousands and said it was one of the biggest Fatah rallies in Gaza in years.

It comes a day after Mr. Abbas declared illegal a Hamas security force in Gaza.

That drew a sharp response from the Islamists and a vow by its Executive Force to double its size to 12,000.

Fatah strongman and former security chief Mohammad Dahlan taunted Hamas during a speech, telling bodyguards to move away.

"I need no one ... let Hamas shoot me," Mr. Dahlan said, as Fatah gunmen in the crowd fired automatic rifles into the air.

"If a Fatahman is attacked, we will respond," he said.

"Their leaders will be wrong to think they are far from the reach of our hands."

Senior Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri accused Mr. Dahlan of inciting violence.

"It was a call for internal fighting and sedition," he said.

The secular-nationalist Fatah, co-founded by the late Yasser Arafat, has for decades been seen as a leading force for Palestinian statehood.

While analysts say Fatah has done too little to improve its standing or unite after being routed by Hamas in the 2006 elections, officials at the rally suggested the conflict with Hamas had helped restore some solidarity.

Fatah might get another chance after Mr. Abbas called for new parliamentary and presidential

elections after factional talks to form a Palestinian unity government failed.

Mr. Abdel-Rahim said Palestinians should focus their battle on Israel, not fight each other.

"Our differences must remain with the occupation, which is bulldozing our land and killing our people," he said.

Hamas created its Executive Force after forming a government last March and had defied a previous order by Mr. Abbas to integrate personnel into other security services.

At a news conference, Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida warned against any attempt to weaken the force.

"Those who receive arms from the Americans are the ones who are responsible for the bloodshed," he said.

Western governments want Mr. Abbas to triumph over Hamas.

Canada, the United States and Israel regard Hamas as a terrorist group.

The Bush administration will provide US$86-million to strengthen security forces loyal to Mr. Abbas, according to documents seen by Reuters on Friday.