Bomb targets Arafat relative

2004-10-13 09:17

Jerusalem - A top Palestinian security leader who's a relative of Yasser Arafat escaped unharmed when a car bomb exploded near his convoy in Gaza City, the latest sign of growing chaos as Israel's planned Gaza pullout nears, and Israel expanded its operation northern Gaza.

Israel's political sphere was also in chaos on Tuesday over the Gaza plan, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon scrambled to mobilise new coalition partners to push it through a balky parliament.

The bomb blast rocked Gaza city after nightfall on Tuesday, as Moussa Arafat's convoy was leaving his headquarters. Arafat was not hurt, security officials said.

Israel's military denied involvement. It was more likely that local opponents were responsible, though no one claimed the blast.

Moussa Arafat: 'Cruel'

In a statement, Moussa Arafat called the bombing an assassination attempt, but he did not name suspects. Last year he escaped injury in an explosion in his office, when he said Palestinian enemies fired a rocket at the building.

Yasser Arafat attempt to appoint his relative as head of Gaza security in July failed after Palestinians rioted, charging that Moussa Arafat is corrupt and cruel.

Early on Wednesday, Israeli troops moved into the town of Beit Lahiya for the first time, residents and military sources said. Soldiers were conducting house-to-house searches for militants, they said.

The Tuesday bombing was more evidence of chaos inside Gaza as the planned Israeli withdrawal approaches. Armed groups are vying with each other, and the official security forces, weakened during four years of conflict with Israel and by internal rivalries, are unable to assert authority.

But Sharon's internal political problems threatened to scuttle the Gaza pullout plan.

With the first parliamentary vote on the pullout just weeks away, it appeared likely that Sharon will have to rely on the moderate opposition Labour Party - an alliance that threatens to tear apart his own faction.

Getting more partners

The fissures in Sharon's Likud Party were visible during the prime minister's policy speech to parliament on Monday night.

Sharon plans to dismantle all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four small enclaves in the West Bank next year. After four years of fighting with the Palestinians, Sharon says the plan will boost Israel's security and head off international efforts to force Israel to make deeper concessions.

Hard-line opposition to the Gaza plan has already left Sharon with a minority coalition.

Vice-premier Ehud Olmert said Sharon has two options, besides elections: "Creating order within the Likud ... or broadening the coalition by enlisting more parties."

Olmert, who is close to Sharon, told Channel Two TV, "We can't have a situation where the prime minister has one policy and some of his ministers have another."

- AP