Arafat scrambles to defuse crisis over Gaza chaos

8.00am

GAZA - President Yasser Arafat scrambled on Monday to defuse a Palestinian leadership crisis triggered by unprecedented unrest in the Gaza Strip over corruption in his government and security forces.

A militant group in Arafat's Fatah movement claimed responsibility for the killing of an Israeli judge in a Tel Aviv drive-by shooting, threatening a surge in regional tensions.

Israeli officials did not rule out a local criminal motive and have concluded that he was not killed by Palestinian militants who claimed responsibility, Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said.

"What we are quite sure of already is that this does not have a background of terrorism, and that the boasting of this terrorist organisation has no basis. This is not true, that is for sure," Lapid told Israel Radio.

Arafat sought to calm public anger in Gaza by naming a new security chief over the head of a cousin whose appointment fuelled a weekend of violence spearheaded by young Fatah gunmen demanding anti-corruption reforms.

But Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie kept the heat on Arafat by saying his resignation, tendered in frustration over what he called an explosion of "chaos and lawlessness" that he has been powerless to stop, would stand for now.

Arafat, 75, an ex-guerrilla leader, is facing the sharpest challenge to his leadership since Palestinians received a measure of self-rule from Israel in occupied lands a decade ago, and some fear it could eventually boil over in civil war.

The confrontation is also widely seen as a power struggle between Arafat's old guard and younger rivals staking out turf before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon carries out a plan to remove Jewish settlements from Gaza by the end of 2005.

A bomb killed a senior figure in the Lebanese guerrilla movement Hizbollah in Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday. Hizbollah, which backs a Palestinian revolt against Israel, blamed the attack on Israeli agents. Israeli officials declined comment.

Justice Minister Yosef Lapid reported the killing of Tel Aviv-area judge Adi Azar during a session of Israel's parliament but said it was not known who targeted him.

"We know of no previous threats to the judge. We have heard that an organisation has claimed responsibility. Every direction is being checked," Israeli national police chief Shlomo Aharonishki said on Channel 2 television.

Israeli police said Azar was shot at close range three times in his upper body while sitting in a car in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Hasharon.

The al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Fatah, claimed responsibility in a phone call to Reuters in the West Bank.

The caller said Azar was shot for suggesting the Palestinian Authority be fined for suicide bomb attacks on Israelis, and also in revenge for the slaying of the Hizbollah leader.

Arafat, under intense public pressure to overhaul his security apparatus, on Monday named Abdel-Razek al-Majaideh to the new post of overall security director for the West Bank and Gaza.

He would outrank Moussa Arafat, the cousin widely seen as a symbol of entrenched cronyism, officials said.

The reinstatement of Majaideh, a veteran commander who resigned earlier this month at Arafat's request, was greeted by supporters firing automatic weapons in the air.

Gunmen opposed to Moussa Arafat, appointed Gaza security chief on Saturday, had battled security forces on Sunday in clashes that left 18 people wounded. Under the new arrangement, Moussa Arafat will retain a senior security post in Gaza.

Compounding Arafat's woes was Qurie's decision on Saturday to tender his resignation after brief abductions on Friday of four French aid workers, a police chief and another official in Gaza. Arafat rejected Qurie's resignation on Sunday.

After a cabinet meeting on Monday, Qurie said his resignation would stand pending a written response from Arafat.

"However, most of the ministers in the cabinet are against this resignation," Qurie told reporters, signalling that he could still rescind it.

He made clear his final decision could depend on Arafat's willingness to cede security powers. "It's about time to reform our security forces," he said.

A moderate traditionally close to Arafat, Qurie has failed to get the president to enact security reforms -- demanded by international mediators as a condition for a "road map" peace plan promising Palestinians statehood.

- REUTERS