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Politics : The Truth About Islam -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ichy Smith who wrote (2126)	10/7/2006 7:20:55 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20106

Palestinians teeter on edge of civil war The Sunday Times ^ \| October 8, 2006 \| Uzi Mahnaimi timesonline.co.uk A BLUNT warning that the West Bank and Gaza are on the brink of civil war was issued this weekend by the head of Palestinian intelligence. Brigadier-General Tawfik Tirawi predicted a bloody clash between Hamas, the Islamist movement headed by Ismail Haniyah, the Palestinian prime minister, and Fatah, its secular rival led by President Mahmoud Abbas. “We are already at the beginning of a civil war, no doubt about it. They (Hamas) are accumulating weapons and a full-scale civil war can break out at any moment,” said Tirawi. Abbas’s attempts to form a coalition between the two Palestinian groups collapsed last week after he insisted Hamas must recognise Israel and give up violence. Abbas believes recognising Israel is the only way to secure the release of millions of pounds of European Union and US aid frozen since Hamas won elections in January. Tirawi believes Hamas will never accept the existence of Israel and said a violent showdown was inevitable. “No way can they agree. They are preparing for a war against us,” he said. Last week 12 people were killed as fighting between the two groups escalated. According to Palestinian sources, Abbas has notified the US, Jordan and Egypt that he is preparing to take action against Hamas. Egypt has already indicated it would support him, the sources claim. Tirawi is determined not to let Hamas ruin the faint chance of a peace agreement with Israel. While Hamas is believed to have 8,000 fighters, Fatah sources claim 20,000. Tirawi forecasts that the violence would begin in Gaza and spread to the West Bank. Large quantities of weapons and ammunition have been smuggled from the Egyptian-controlled Sinai into the Gaza Strip since Israel withdrew from the area last year, according to Palestinian sources. Most of the arms are carried through dozens of tunnels, many controlled by Hamas. Many of the weapons are believed to originate in the countries in the region that support Hamas, such as Iran and Syria. Egypt is trying to prevent the smuggling but has achieved only limited success, according to Israeli sources. Tirawi rejected the possibility that by accumulating weapons Hamas is preparing for a war against Israel. The arsenal was to be used against