[NYTr] Palestinian ex-Security Chief Assassinated

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

BBC News Online - 7 September 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4221326.stm

Gaza security official shot dead

Palestinian ex-security chief Moussa Arafat has been shot dead in
Gaza after being dragged from his home by gunmen.

The cousin of the late leader Yasser Arafat is the most senior
figure to be killed in internal violence that has gripped the
Palestinian territories.

The attack has been claimed by a militant splinter group, the
Popular Resistance Committees.

They battled his bodyguards for half an hour, before killing Arafat
outside his house and abducting his son.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said everything would be done to
catch the killers and free Manhal Arafat.

PRC spokesman Abu Abir said the attack against "the collaborator"
Arafat and kidnapping of his son were undertaken "for reasons to be
announced later".

Correspondents say Gen Arafat, who was sacked as Gaza security chief
earlier this year but reappointed as presidential security adviser,
made many enemies in a long career in the security forces. The
65-year-old had been accused of corruption.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says his assassination is another
indication of the tensions and lawlessness in Gaza, as the Israelis
withdraw from the territory.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has called an emergency meeting of
his security commanders and Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.

Grenades

About 20 cars carrying masked men are believed to have encircled the
villa in the south of the city.

The attackers shot rocket-propelled grenades at Gen Arafat's house,
and his bodyguards returned fire. The gunmen then entered the
building and shot the former security chief, whose body was left in
the street.

Blood stained the road. A Palestinian minister told the BBC the
authorities were shocked by the killing, and were trying to impose
order in Gaza.

"It's a court of law that should have addressed this matter," Sabri
Saidam said.

"The authorities should have brought Mr Arafat to question, rather
than see the scene which took place in Gaza this morning."

The PRC is a coalition of Palestinian militant groups. The group is
made up mostly of former members of Mr Abbas' Fatah political
movement, with militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. It has taken
responsibility for many attacks on Israelis.

'Old guard'

Our correspondent says Moussa Arafat was a controversial figure.
He had survived earlier attempts on his life.

The late Yasser Arafat's attempt to put his cousin in overall charge
of Palestinian security in July 2004 sparked violent demonstrations.

Elements within Fatah objected to the appointment, alleging that he
was corrupt.

He had become widely unpopular among Palestinians, who view him as
one of the "old guard" and steeped in corruption.

As chief of military intelligence in the 1990s, Gen Arafat earned a
reputation for ruthlessness.

He was involved in a 1996 crackdown on Hamas and Islamic Jihad
militants, when he shaved the heads and beards of detainees as a
form of humiliation.