[AP] Mohammed Daraghmeh - PA leader Mahmoud Abbas' security forces have significantly widened a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank in the past month, doubling the number of detainees. In the same period, police in Hamas-ruled Gaza have picked up dozens of Abbas loyalists from the Fatah movement, as the two sides try to negotiate an elusive power-sharing deal. A PA security official said Hamas members are often released after they hand over money, weapons and information. The arrests seek to "strip Hamas of its weapons and financial nets, to keep the movement powerless and unable to repeat its military coup in the West Bank." Salah Mousa from the West Bank-based Independent Commission for Human Rights said, "Hamas is trying to wipe out Fatah in Gaza and Fatah is trying to wipe out Hamas in the West Bank."
2009-07-07 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive