Palestinian VIP shot dead

2005-09-07 08:20

Gaza City - Mussa Arafat, a military advisor to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and a cousin of the late Yasser Arafat, was shot dead after a gunbattle at his home in Gaza City early on Tuesday.

The former Palestinian security chief, one of the traditional strongmen of the Gaza Strip, was shot in front of his wife and son before being dragged out onto the street where an additional 23 bullets were pumped into his body, security and medical sources said.

His son, Manal, was then kidnapped by the gunmen who had arrived at the house in the southern part of the city at around 04:00 in around 20 vehicles and began firing at his large team of bodyguards.

After news of the killing emerged, Abbas immediately went to visit Arafat's relatives to offer his condolences before convening an emergency meeting of his national security council which includes prime minister Ahmed Qorei and interior minister Nasr Yussef.

He was expected to formally declare a state of emergency after the meeting and police and other members of the security forces could be seen out in force at daybreak.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the killing of Arafat who was known to have many enemies. He survived an assassination attempt in July 2003 when attackers threw a grenade towards his car.

His death comes as Palestinian security forces prepare to take control of the Gaza Strip which the Israeli army has vowed to vacate completely by September 15.

Abbas has been urging militant groups to remain calm during the pullout process in a bid to bolster the case for independence.

The Gaza Strip has been wracked by lawlessness in recent month, including a spate of kidnappings which has seen the United Nations withdraw all its non-essential foreign staff.

Arafat lost his position as national security chief in April when Abbas got rid of several officials close to Yasser Arafat. He was subsequently named as advisor on military affairs with ministerial rank.

Yasser Arafat died in a Paris hospital last November.

The late Palestinian leader had appointed Mussa Arafat as head of security in July 2004 to loud protests in the Gaza Strip, and even within the dominant Fatah movement.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed and radical offshoot of Fatah, led the chorus of disapproval, accusing Mussa Arafat of being a symbol of corruption within the Palestinian Authority.

In the hours following his nomination, the offices of the military intelligence services which he ran in the southern Gaza Strip were torched by Al-Aqsa.

Mussa Arafat arrived in the Palestinian territories in the wake of the 1993 Oslo peace plan for the Middle East.

As head of military intelligence he took part in the repression of armed groups. The resentment against him dates from that time when he earned a reputation for brutality.

- AFP