Israel Matzav

Hamas accuses Fatah of trying to assassinate Haniyeh

The bad terrorists from Hamas are accusing the 'good terrorists' from Fatah of attempting to assassinate former 'Palestinian' Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (pictured, top left) at Friday services in Gaza City yesterday.

Hamas dropped a bombshell Saturday when it openly accused Abbas's office of planning to kill Haniyeh. Said Siam, a senior Hamas official, claimed that Abbas's men also planned to bomb Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV station.

According to Siam, one of Abbas's top aides, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, had personally dispatched a suicide bomber who was supposed to blow himself up during Friday prayers attended by Haniyeh in Gaza City.

Abdel Rahim reportedly promised the would-be-suicide bomber, who was arrested by Hamas security forces at the scene, that the PA would move his family to Ramallah if the operation succeeded. He also promised that the PA would rebuild his family's house if Hamas destroyed it.

The Hamas official said the would-be-suicide bomber had even prepared a videotape talking about his mission that was supposed to be broadcast on the PA's Palestine TV after the attacks on Haniyeh. He added that other suicide bombers belonging to Abbas's Fatah party were supposed to carry out an attack on Al-Aqsa TV in Gaza City.

Siam also named three Fatah operatives, Ahmed Dughmush, Hassan Zant and Dafer Abu Mazkour, who had fled to Egypt after the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, as being directly responsible for the botched assassination attempt. He said Hamas had briefed the Egyptian government about their involvement in the alleged plot and had demanded that they be brought to trial.

Siam, who served as Interior Minister in the Hamas government, also said that Hamas had briefed a number of Arab and Islamic countries about the details of the assassination scheme. He said several Fatah operatives living in the Gaza Strip have disappeared from their homes for fear of being arrested because of their involvement in the attempt to kill Haniyeh.

He said that the Fatah suspects were planning to issue a statement on behalf of Al-Qaeda and Fatah al-Islam claiming responsibility for the assassination.

It probably goes without saying that Fatah is denying the story:

A senior official in Abbas's office told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas was lying "to cover up for its crimes" against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "This is a new fabrication by Hamas," he said. "They want to divert attention from the state of anarchy and lawlessness and the crimes of their murderous gangs."

Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a top aide to Abbas, denied the Hamas charges, saying they were reflected the "sick mentality" of the Hamas leaders. "This is the time for national unity," he said. "Hamas does not want unity because they want to retain control over the Gaza Strip."

Fatah's armed wing, the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, accused Hamas of seeking to deepen divisions among the Palestinians by accusing the PA leadership of trying to kill Haniyeh. "Fatah had nothing to do with this case," the group said. It called for putting Siam on trial for his responsibility for the killing of some 400 Palestinians in the past seven months.

If the name Dughmush sounds familiar to any of you, it should. It's another way of spelling Dugmash, which was the clan that 'kidnapped' BBC reporter useful idiot Alan Johnston last summer. As I noted in a post at the time, there is some doubt as to whose side they are on.

In the meantime, it is good to see Fatah and Hamas fighting with each other again. But if he's fighting with Hamas, what will Abu Mazen do with all that money?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:23 PM