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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (19984)	1/26/2007 6:49:40 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

It is hard to blame Iranian leaders for their belief that the US is more bark than bite. It is too bad for the Iranian people, for the most part, who are going to see their country turn into another Beruit.

To: Solon who wrote (19984)	1/26/2007 6:50:08 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

This situation in Gaza is starting to actually appear real: Hamas-Fatah unity gov't talks off after 12 die in Gaza violence By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Agencies Rival Palestinian factions clashed Friday across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 13 people and wounding 20 in a wave of bombings and shootings. The ruling Hamas movement said Friday evening that it was suspending talks with the rival Fatah party on forming a coalition government, in wake of the ongoing fighting. "Following the awful massacres committed today in Gaza and northern Gaza... we have decided to postpone all dialogue with Fatah," said Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan. Advertisement Earlier, Fatah also said it was suspending negotiations. Representatives of Fatah and Hamas reached a cease-fire agreement Friday evening, in a meeting with Palestinian Interior Minister Said Siyam in Gaza, although the cease-fire has yet to be implemented. Gaza hospital officials said a 2-year-old boy was killed when Fatah gunmen fired at a car believed to be carrying Hamas militants in the southern town of Khan Yunis. Hamas and Fatah officials accused each other of firing the deadly shot. In other fighting, gunmen exchanged fire outside a mosque in Gaza City. Hamas said three members were killed. A militant of the Fatah-linked Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and two bystanders were also killed in the violence. Al-Aqsa said it seized 24 Hamas supporters in Gaza and the West Bank and threatened a "severe response" if Hamas gunmen hurt a senior Fatah militant besieged in Gaza. The fighting coincided with a rally of thousands of Hamas supporters on Friday to mark the Islamist group's election victory over Fatah opponents last year. While Hamas proclaimed a moral victory against an international boycott, turnout at the celebration was sparse and the ongoing violence forced Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to skip the event. Hamas had originally announced that victory rallies would be held across the West Bank and Gaza, with the main event to take place in Gaza City, Hamas' stronghold. But the new fighting, which began Thursday night, led organizers to relocate the main rally to the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza. Haniyeh bowed out of a planned appearance at the rally, apparently fearing it would be too dangerous to travel there. In the end, only several thousand Hamas supporters attended the Jabalya celebration. At a speech in Gaza City, Haniyeh said it has been a year full of events and spoke proudly of the Palestinians' refusal to succumb to the international boycott. The siege has become ineffective, he said. The Palestinian people were patient and steadfast in the face of this siege, as was their government, and we have not offered any concessions. On Friday morning, gunmen in northern Gaza shot dead a Hamas activist after a night of tit-for-tat killings and kidnappings. Earlier, Hamas militants killed a wounded Fatah fighter in a gangland-style slaying, Fatah officials said, and on Thursday night attackers killed a Hamas activist in a bombing the group blamed on Fatah. Both attacks took place in Jabalya. Local residents said women and civilians were trying to break the siege of the house of Mansour Shalayel of Fatah, throwing stones against the Hamas forces who responded with stun grenades. The spokesman said that the militant was "executed" by members of Hamas' security force, who had come to question the slain militant about the death of one of their members. He said a Hamas force firing rockets launched a predawn attack on the home of Nabil Jarjir, initially wounding him. As neighbors were taking the injured man to hospital the Hamas raiders stopped the car and killed him with a shot to the head, Fatah said. The incident occurred just hours after a Hamas security officer was killed and five others wounded in an explosion in northern Gaza. No one claimed responsibility for the attack. Hamas sources accused Fatah of carrying out the bombing, although Fatah sources denied involvment, saying that a bomb in the Hamas men's possession accidentally exploded. A Hamas official said that overnight Friday, Fatah gunmen kidnapped seven Hamas members, while Hamas seized four Fatah members believed to be behind the roadside bombing. Fatah said six of its men had been snatched. Militants from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank city of Nablus said they seized a number of Hamas supporters and threatened to kill them if the Hamas gunmen in Gaza did not lift their siege. A Fatah source said the group was also threatening action against nine Hamas detainees in Gaza. Also Friday, shots were fired at the Gaza City home of Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas, but he was not there at the time, an aide said. Gunmen also fired at the house Thursday night while Zahar was inside, but he was unharmed. The escalating violence forced the postponement of talks among Palestinian groups including Fatah and Hamas, which hope to form a coalition government and ease a U.S.-led boycott imposed after Hamas won the elections last January. "The entire dialogue could explode," Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said, blaming Hamas for the tension. "How can dialogue go on when there is a bomb underneath the table?" The talks, due to resume on Friday, were pushed back to Sunday. Gunmen fire at Canadian, German diplomatic missions in West Bank Palestinian gunmen sprayed bullets at foreign diplomatic offices and a local bank Thursday night, but caused no casualties as all the buildings were empty at the time, Palestinian security officials said. The men, militants fearing attack or arrest by Israel, had been holed up at the Ramallah complex housing the headquarters of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas after taking refuge there following a January 4 raid in the city by undercover troops in which four Palestinian civilians were killed and more than two dozen wounded. They were evicted from the compound by Palestinian security forces Thursday. In what was seen as an act of protest meant to embarrass the security forces, the men went to the city center, firing rifle shots and throwing stones at the local representative offices of Canada and Germany and at premises of The Arab Bank. The diplomatic offices were apparently targeted because they flew foreign flags and stood out from their surroundings rather than because of any grudge against the Canadian or German governments.