Gaza gunmen attack U.N. convoy, kill Fatah officer
Source: Reuters
(Adds Hamas and Fatah reaction paragraph 7) By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA, March 16 (Reuters) - Palestinian gunmen attacked a U.N. relief convoy in a botched kidnapping attempt and, in a separate incident, killed a Palestinian intelligence officer loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, officials said. The surge of violence in the Gaza Strip came a day after the governing Palestinian faction Hamas and Abbas's rival Fatah agreed on the make-up of a coalition government they hope will end infighting and lift a crippling Western aid embargo. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on a car in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah in which Hussein Asserhi of Fatah was killed and a passenger wounded. Near Gaza City, unidentified gunmen in a car blocked a convoy carrying United Nations Relief and Works Agency operations chief John Ging and attempted to force him out of his armoured vehicle, UNRWA spokeswoman Gina Benevento said. "When it became clear that the vehicle doors were locked, they opened fire directly on the car, resulting in 11 bullet holes in the vehicle's side," Benevento said. "It was definitely a kidnapping attempt, but it was not successful." No one was hurt in the incident, which came days after a BBC correspondent in Gaza, Alan Johnston, was seized while driving his car in what Palestinian police said was a kidnapping. Spokesmen for Hamas and Fatah condemned the attack on the UNRWA convoy. Abbas's office said in a statement that he had ordered the police "to uncover the criminals who opened fire on the convoy of Mr John Ging and to bring them to justice". COALITION GOVERNMENT IN THE MAKING Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas agreed to form a coalition government during Saudi-sponsored talks in Mecca on Feb. 8 after violence sparked fears of civil war. Palestinians hope the unity deal will end fighting between Islamist Hamas and the more secular Fatah that has killed more than 300 Palestinians in the past year. A crime wave has further deepened Palestinian rancour in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Disagreement over who would control Palestinian security forces was a major obstacle in coalition talks, but Abbas and Haniyeh agreed to appoint an academic with no security experience to the hotly-contested post of interior minister. The unity government is also aimed at easing a crippling Western aid embargo of the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian attacks on UNRWA -- which supplies vital aid and employment for refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and neighbouring Arab countries -- have been very rare. "The one million refugees depending on us need our operation, and that's why it's so urgent that security be brought under control. We need law and order here in the Gaza Strip first and foremost," Ging told reporters. Benevento said that several of UNRWA's foreign staff in Gaza were away on routine assignments or vacation and would not be immediately recalled for security reasons. UNRWA staff currently in Gaza would continue operations as normal, she said. An UNRWA statement quoted its commissioner-general, Karen Koning AbuZayd, as condemning the "unprecedented attack" on Ging's convoy and urged that those responsible be identified forthwith and brought to justice.
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