Israeli Missiles Wound Two as Arafat Faces Crisis :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: Israeli Missiles Wound Two as Arafat Faces Crisis

Posted by admin on Tuesday, July 20, 2004 - 12:51 AM

Israeli helicopters wounded two Palestinians in a missile strike on a Gaza militant's home on Tuesday as Palestinian President Yasser Arafat sought to head off unprecedented unrest challenging his leadership.
Arafat hastily shuffled security chiefs Monday after a spate of violence by militants in his Fatah movement demanding reforms to root out corruption. But his prime minister said his resignation in protest over inaction on reforms still stood. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the Palestinian Authority was in deep crisis and it must act fast to overhaul its security apparatus, discredited by graft and internal feuding, if it hoped to stop increasing chaos in Gaza. The missile attack in Tuesday's early hours was the second in less than a day to target the house of Abu Youssef al-Quka, head of a militant umbrella group, the Popular Resistance Committees, in the Shati refugee camp outside Gaza City. Palestinian medics said the two wounded were treated for shrapnel injuries while a third person was treated for shock. Smoke billowed up from the house. Israeli helicopters also targeted the two-story house on Monday afternoon, wounding three people. It was not known whether Quka had been hit in either attack. Palestinian security sources said Quka's group was suspected of involvement in a February bombing that killed three U.S. security guards in a diplomatic convoy passing through Gaza. The Israeli army had no immediate comment on either raid. Israel has carried out many aerial attacks on wanted militant leaders in Gaza, killing dozens during an almost four-year-old Palestinian revolt in territories captured by the Jewish state in the 1967 Middle East war. ARAFAT UNDER PRESSURE Arafat, 75, is facing his stiffest challenge since Palestinians obtained limited self-rule from Israel in Gaza and the West Bank a decade ago. Some fear the strife could eventually escalate into civil war. It is shaping up as a power struggle between Arafat's old guard, who returned from exile abroad after the self-rule deal, and a younger reformist generation staking out turf before Israel implements a plan to evacuate settlers from Gaza in 2005. Arafat, under public pressure to overhaul a jumble of competing security services, Monday named Abdel-Razek al-Majaideh to the new post of overall West Bank and Gaza security chief. He would outrank Moussa Arafat, the cousin widely seen as a symbol of entrenched cronyism whom he appointed Saturday, only to be met with an explosion of violent protests by Fatah militants in Gaza that left 18 people wounded. Annan's remarks echoed unprecedented criticism voiced by his main Middle East envoy that infuriated Palestinian officials. "They are facing a serious situation, a serious crisis, and they have to take steps and measures to bring it under control because without that, it is going to be very difficult to see any progress and the way forward," Annan said. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie submitted his resignation Arafat over the lawlessness but Arafat rejected it. Annan urged Arafat to "take the time to listen" to Qurie and carry out the reforms international mediators have called for as a condition for advancing a "road map" peace plan promising Palestinians a state in Gaza and the West Bank. U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said Arafat's Palestinian Authority was on the verge of collapse and security reforms were crucial to restore law and order and its credibility abroad.

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