Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 21, 1994 TAG: 9411220071
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: GAZA CITY, GAZXA STRIP LENGTH: Medium
One armed group of Muslim radicals threatened civil war unless the Palestine Liberation Organization chief expelled top Palestinian police officials and punished others.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin responded to the threats by sending extra troops to the Gaza Strip to protect Jewish settlements and to the West Bank to prevent riots.
The PLO and the Islamic fundamentalist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad blame each other for Friday's bloodshed, when Palestinian police opened fire on rioting worshipers, killing 13 people and wounding more than 150.
Only isolated outbreaks of violence occurred Sunday in Gaza, where a shaky truce between the PLO and the militants held.
Izzedine al-Qassam, Hamas' military wing, said it would attack officials of Arafat's government and start a civil war unless its conditions were met. The group demanded that Arafat fire two senior police officials and Justice Minister Freih Abu Medein and release jailed Islamic activists. It said those responsible for Friday's bloodshed must be tried and executed.
Arafat suggested Sunday night that Israel had a role in Friday's violence. He told a delegation from Jerusalem that some people had been shot by plastic and soft-nosed bullets, which he implied are used by Israeli soldiers.
Nabil Shaath, the PLO's top negotiator, said the rioting was the outgrowth of anger over Rabin's banning of Palestinians from jobs in Israel and the failure of international donors to make good on aid pledges.
Israel closed Gaza after a wave of suicide bombings and other attacks by Islamic militants that killed 30 Israelis in the past two months.
At a Cabinet meeting Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres proposed that, to ease the economic hardship, Israel advance the PLO $13 million in tax money collected from Palestinians working in Israel.
Arafat and Rabin said every effort would be made to preserve the peace process, but Arafat's ability to press ahead could be damaged because Islamic leaders made clear that they would mount attacks on Israeli targets.
``The Islamic forces don't want to make a struggle against the [PLO] authorities, but they want to wage a big battle against the Israeli soldiers,'' said Sheikh Abdullah Shami, leader of the Islamic Jihad, or Holy War, who is wanted by PLO and Israeli authorities.
He said, "Our strategy was and will be to attack the Israelis, and we are not responsible if [PLO leaders] put chains around their own necks.''
by CNB