Arafat cracks down harder on dissenters

By PHIL REEVES

JERUSALEM - Yasser Arafat mobilised all his security strength yesterday to stop the Gaza Strip from exploding into internal conflict, detonated by the United States-led strikes on Afghanistan and the killing of Palestinian protesters by their own policemen.

Thousands of armed police flooded the streets and foreign correspondents were banned for the second day from entering the strip, which was simmering with fury after police shot dead three demonstrators, including a 12-year-old boy, on Tuesday.

Arafat has resorted to dictatorial methods to quell the instability in Gaza, which blew wide open the long-standing rift between his rule - with its many uneasy links with Israel - and the radical Islamic nationalists who command strong support on the streets.

The Palestinian President appears badly shaken by the unrest. His authority had already been challenged by the militants' rejection of his attempts to impose a US-brokered ceasefire in the intifada.

Not since 1996, when Arafat threw scores of militants in jail after a spate of suicide attacks on Israel, have relations between the two been so strained.



Arafat's security forces yesterday struggled hard to keep the world's press away from anyone uttering support for Osama bin Laden, or venting anti-American sentiments.

This was partly at the behest of the US and its allies, who want to keep the TV footage of Muslims protesting against their attack on Afghanistan to a minimum.

But it is largely because the Palestinian leadership wants to avoid any images appearing around the world that will make it easy for its foes - especially Israel - to couple them with bin Laden.

But they could not silence the human rights critics, or the family of Abdullah Franji, the 12-year-old boy killed by a police bullet.

"We never thought Palestinian bullets would be directed at us," said Imad Franji, a cousin. "Most of the people injured were shot in the head. The aim was to kill - and it was done to satisfy the US."

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights condemned the police methods used to break up the demonstrating students, who were chanting slogans in solidarity with Afghans.

In the aftermath of the bloodshed, crowds attacked and burned police stations, started fires and smashed windows. Gunbattles broke out between Palestinian resistance fighters and police.

The police at first blamed the students, for holding an "illegal" protest, then complained that they constituted a traffic hazard, and finally accused masked gunmen of shooting at them.

A spokesman for Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, said: "For the first time we congratulate the Palestinian Authority for taking measures which it promised to implement against terrorists. We must hope that Yasser Arafat will continue along this path."

Yesterday, few Palestinian protesters were willing to brave the huge police presence.

The danger now appears greatest for the Palestinian Authority itself. It has moved quickly to gain promises from the powerful Islamist resistance groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, that they will do nothing to put "national unity" at risk.

But this is extremely tricky political terrain.

The Palestinians are even more angry, and more radicalised than ever after a year of conflict. Israel's Army is the chief enemy. But the Palestinian Authority - with its record of torture, summary execution, cronyism and corruption - could easily also feel the brunt of their pent-up anger.

A baker, who refused to give his name, criticised the police for suppressing the public's views.

He made no secret of where his loyalties lie: "Osama bin Laden is fighting for God, and he wants to liberate Palestine."

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