Palestine close to civil war, Hamas leader warns

[Enemy_Of_Mad_Mullah]

Palestine close to civil war, Hamas leader warns
Posted at 5:22pm on 16 Dec 2006

The political leader of the governing Palestinian party Hamas is warning that Gaza and the West Bank may be heading for civil war.

Exiled leader Khaled Meshal made his comments after the main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, accused each other of carrying out deadly attacks.

Egyptian diplomats have begun attempts to mediate between the two sides. The move follows days of rising tensions between Hamas, the largest faction, and the Fatah group headed by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Mr Abbas is expected to use a speech to the Palestinian parliament on Saturday to threaten early elections - an option already condemned by Hamas.

Hamas has blamed Fatah for a shooting that targeted Prime Minister Ismail Haniya. His car was attacked by gunmen while crossing into Gaza from Egypt on Thursday. One bodyguard died in the incident.

A Hamas spokesman blamed a senior Fatah official, former security chief Mohammad Dahlan, for the attack.

The shoot-out at the Rafah border crossing led to more clashes, both in the West Bank and in Gaza City. Some 32 people were injured when Palestinian police loyal to Fatah fought Hamas supporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.