Angry Fatah activists storm Parliament over election loss
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Firing into the air, Fatah gunmen and police stormed Palestinian Parliament buildings yesterday in growing unrest after their long-dominant party's crushing election defeat by Hamas Islamists.
Turmoil since the parliamentary election landslide has fueled fears of strife among Palestinian factions as Hamas tries to form a government and possibly take over security forces packed with Fatah loyalists at odds with the Islamic militants.
Thousands of gunmen from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah held protests across the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, many firing automatic rifles into the air. They took over Parliament in Ramallah for about 20 minutes, shouting demands from the roof before descending peacefully. Fatah militants and police also seized the Parliament building in the Gaza Strip.
The gunmen demanded Fatah leaders resign. They aim to dissuade the party from any idea of sharing power with Hamas or letting it control security forces. ''We will transform the army of the Palestinian Authority into armed militias. We are not waiting for Hamas to teach us their Islamic beliefs. We know the Koran by heart," said Fatah gunman Ramzi Obeid.
Hamas gunmen wounded two police officers in Gaza early yesterday in what authorities said was a roadside ambush. The attack came hours after another firefight wounded a Hamas activist and two police officers, one of whom was reportedly in a coma.
In Gaza, where eight people were hurt on Friday in clashes between Fatah and Hamas activists, the gunmen were joined in their protest by police opposed to any Hamas control over them.
Other Fatah activists staged angry protests throughout the West Bank, including in Nablus. ''We are now no longer part of the cease-fire," an Al Aqsa gunman, Nasser Haras, told the crowd, referring to a year-old truce with Israel.
In Tulkarem, gunman Ibrahim Khreisheh warned against cooperating with Hamas. ''Whoever will participate in a government with Hamas, we will shoot him in the head," he said. Israel's defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, repeated Israel's vow not to negotiate with Hamas and to strike at its leaders if the group, which has waged a suicide bombing campaign against the Jewish state, broke a February truce.
''We will not under any circumstances agree to speak with Hamas," he told Israel's Channel 2 television.
''If Hamas chooses a way of terror and violence like before . . . it will come under an unprecedented Israeli attack."
Mofaz said Israel would not rule out targeted killings against Hamas leaders if they attack Israel. Israeli airstrikes in 2004 killed Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi.
Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Palestinian uprising leader who was Fatah's top candidate and led efforts to reform the party, appealed for Fatah to hold a general conference to elect fresh leadership, according to a statement released by his wife, Fadwa.
He also congratulated Hamas and said Fatah would peacefully transfer power. ''We will respect the democratic process . . . and help those who won the confidence of our people," he said.
Hamas won 76 out of 132 seats in parliamentary elections Wednesday to Fatah's 43. The militant group's victory threw the fate of international aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority in doubt and darkened the chances for a peace deal with Israel.
The elections have also fueled discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In a speech to attendees yesterday, former US president Bill Clinton said the West should be more open to eventual talks with Hamas.
''You've got to find a way to at least open doors . . . and I don't see how we can do it without more contact," he said. Hamas might ''acquire a greater sense of responsibility, and as they do, we have to be willing to act on that."
On Friday, President Bush told ''CBS Evening News" that US aid to the Palestinian government would be cut unless Hamas, which the United States and European nations list as a terror group, abolishes its militant wing and stops calling for Israel's destruction.
Material from the Associated Press was included in this report. 
