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To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (8984)	7/5/2006 2:33:59 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

Hamas leaders in hiding as noose tightens AFP ^ \| July 5, 2006 \| Beatriz Lecumberri GAZA CITY (AFP) - Hiding in friends' houses with their mobile phones switched off, Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya and his ministers are behaving more like an underground organisation than an elected government. "We are all taking extra precautions because of the Israeli threats. Our lives are in danger, just as the lives of all Palestinians have been in danger since the start of the occupation," information minister Yusef Rizqa told AFP. Israel launched a massive onslaught against the Gaza Strip following the June 25 capture of an Israeli soldier by militant groups, including the armed wing of the governing Islamist movement Hamas. And an air strike Sunday against Haniya's office in Gaza City sent many of Hamas's bigwigs scurrying into hiding. Renouncing mobile phones for fear of being tracked down, changing vehicles several times a day, using different routes and avoiding routine appointments are some of the measures adopted by the movement's leaders, said a Hamas minister who asked not to be named. "Many ministers cannot go to their office because they are afraid of being the target of a missile attack. Haniya asked us to step up all protective measures," he said. He said Haniya as well as several key ministers and Hamas lawmakers had started sleeping in different locations every night because of the increased threat of Israeli assassination. "Haniya's house has been empty for days, the prime minister is currently staying with friends who have his full trust," the minister added. Nevertheless, Rizqa vowed that "all the members of the government are bent on continuing to fulfil their duty to the Palestinian people." When the Palestinian premier inspected the damage inflicted by the strike on his office, he was accompanied by Mahmud Abbas, the moderate president of the Palestinian Authority, who has the support of the international community. Hamas routed the long-ruling mainstream Fatah in the January elections -- internationally acclaimed as fair and transparent -- but the government sworn in two months later has found itself acting like a clandestine organisation. Last week, Israel arrested 64 Hamas officials -- including eight ministers and several members of parliament -- forcing the cabinet to temporarily redistribute abandoned portfolios. Coordination between Hamas officials is done essentially by fax and the rare meetings still on the schedule are held in secret locations determined at the latest possible moment. Some West Bank-based officials, including deputy prime minister Nassereddin al-Shaer, have not been sighted for a week. Palestinian leaders have admitted that Haniya's life could hang by a thread if a quick solution allowing the release of the teenage soldier was not found. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has rejected the ultimatum set by the soldier's captors for Arab prisoners to be released, instead turning up the heat on the Palestinians, stressing that "no one was immune" from Israel's military might. Haniya was propelled to the top of Hamas's Gaza-based leadership following the consecutive assassinations of Ismail Abu Shanab, spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdelaziz Rantissi in 2004. The movement's other top leader, foreign minister Mahmud Zahar, has not made a public appearance for more than two weeks and Tuesday's weekly cabinet meeting had to be cancelled. With Israeli tanks edging into the Gaza Strip from the north, others poised to thrust deep inside the territory from the south and the skies constantly patrolled by gunships, fighter jets and drones, the vice is tightening around Hamas. "Everybody knows that Israel wants to kill Haniya and destroy his government but Israel is afraid because it knows it would be taking a big risk at this moment as one if its soldiers is kidnapped," said Palestinian analyst Mkhaimar Abu Sada. "Palestinians understand what happened and accept that the priority of this government is no longer water and power supply in the Gaza Strip," said Abu Sada, a professor at Gaza's Al-Azhar University.

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (8984)	7/5/2006 5:09:28 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

Thousands fleeing fighting in Philippines United Press International, ^ \| July 5 \| staff MANILA, Philippines, July 5 (UPI) -- Reports from the southern Philippines say some 3,000 people have fled their homes amid fighting between government troops, militias and Muslim insurgents. The fighting in Maguindanao province over the past week left more than 40 people dead, The Manila Times reported Tuesday. It also endangered negotiations between Manila and the Moro National Liberation Front. Those long-standing talks were expected to produce a final peace accord by September. New reports say the MNLF has blamed military backed militias loyal to the provincial governor for the violence, which they claim was in retaliation for a roadside bombing last month that killed five people. The target of the bombing was allegedly the governor. "The attacks on the MILF are clearly in retaliation for the killings of the 5 people in which the MILF had no connection," an MNLF leader was quoted as saying. A MNLF spokesman was quoted as saying the fighting began when militias, backed by army artillery fire, attacked a MNLF camp. The MNLF, a separatist group, said their forces have been ordered to stay in their camps in the province and only use fight to defend themselves. In addition to Muslim separatists, the Philippines is also fighting a communist insurgency.