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State Of Emergency Declared In Gaza After Kidnappings
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Jabali (C) is taken to a waiting car in Gaza City after his release (AFP)
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Additional
Reporting By Mostafa Al-Sawwaf, IOL Correspondent
GAZA
CITY, July 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agency) - The
Palestinian Authority (PA) declared Saturday, July 17, a state of
emergency in Gaza Strip following the kidnapping of top Palestinian
security officials and four French aid workers.
Palestinian
Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei called an emergency cabinet meeting for
later in the day to discuss
Gaza
's descent into chaos, fuelling rumors his government might resign or
be forced out, Reuters news agency reported.
"A
state of emergency has been declared in the Gaza Strip as of early
this morning to deal with the state of chaos there," a senior
security official said as security.
Gaza
Strip Preventive Security Chief Rashid Abu Shbak and General
Intelligence Chief Amin Hindi have tendered their resignations to
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, complaining of chaos in the Strip
and the PA's failure to make reforms, an official said.
Rooting
Out Corruption
Gaza
police chief Ghazi Al-Jabali, who was abducted on Friday, July 16, was
released after President Arafat reportedly brokered a deal with the
kidnappers, pledging to open an investigation into alleged corruption
charges against Jabai.
Liaison
Officer in southern Gaza Strip Khaled Abu Al-Ela has been also
released after Arafat had agreed to reinstate his kidnappers to their
jobs in the PA’s security apparatuses.
The
abduction of Jabali was claimed by Jenin Martyrs' Brigade, an offshoot
of the larger Popular Resistance Committees, whose members are mainly
former activists of Arafat's mainstream Fatah movement.
Moussa
Al-Nabaheen, a group’s leader, told IslamOnline.net Friday that the
operation is aimed at rooting out the corruption eating away at the
PA.
He
charged that Jabali confessed in a video tape that he had embezzled
$22 million, blackmailed Palestinians and was involved in immoral
conduct.
Nabheen
said he demanded that Jabali step down in 72 hours and the PA freeze
his bank accounts.
Witnesses
told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the police chief was driving in a
three-car convoy along
Gaza
's coastal highway when a group of men fired in his direction and
abducted him.
The
kidnappers were heard shouting in Arabic twice: "We kidnapped
Jabali", before driving into the Breij refugee camp.
At
least one bodyguard was injured in the incident.
Acting
as
Gaza
's police chief for most of the past 10 years since limited self-rule
was established, Jabali has been the target of several attacks by
Palestinian groups.
In
April, an explosion destroyed the front entrance of his
Gaza
home. Jabali had left the house shortly before the blast.
A
month before that attack armed men fired at his office. He was unhurt.
French
Released
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Palestinians help two French hostages after they were released in Khan Yunis |
Meanwhile,
the four French nationals, seized by Palestinian gunmen demanding
sweeping reforms inside the PA, were also freed unharmed.
The
four were abducted while drinking coffee in a restaurant in the town
of
Khan Yunis
on Friday.
They
were taken to a Red Crescent building, where masked gunmen fired from
windows to ward off police.
The
gunmen said they would let the hostages go only if Arafat met their
demands -- rooting out corruption, implementing major political
reforms and easing the hardships of the poor.
But
after a few tense hours, the gunmen first released the two women
hostages and then freed the two men.
Palestinian
security officials said the abduction was carried out by militants
from the Abu Al-Rish Brigades, which is linked to Fatah.
Abu
Qusai, leader of the hostage takers, said the peaceful end to the
four-hour drama was due to intervention by Arafat.
French
officials said the four worked for non-governmental humanitarian
organizations and had been trying to improve the impoverished town's
electricity network.
The
abductions reflected a growing challenge to Arafat, who has been
confined to his Ramallah headquarters since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa
Intifada against the Israeli occupation nearly four years ago.
Arafat
has faced growing criticism at home and abroad over his failure to
overhaul security forces and other institutions.
Palestinian
officials maintain that incessant Israeli raids and clampdowns have
hindered his ability to make such reforms.
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