GAZA CITY, 15 November 2004 — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was at the center of a shootout in Gaza yesterday hours after he emerged as Fatah’s candidate in the presidential election scheduled for Jan. 9.
The shootout happened as Abbas arrived to enter a tent set up to receive mourners in a memorial service for Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian president who died in Paris last Thursday. Gunmen from Arafat’s faction-ridden Fatah movement shouting, “No to Abu Mazen” and “Abu Mazen Return to Your Masters” walked by him and began firing shots into the air as Abbas stood outside the tent. At least 30 gunmen were seen shouting slogans against Abbas and Muhammad Dahlan.
The gunmen’s rifles were pointed upward, and not at Abu Mazen, as they fired more bursts into the air, witnesses said. Members of Arafat’s presidential guard hustled Abbas, 69, into the tent and threw him to the ground for his safety as the militants burst in. As Abbas’ bodyguards tried to move him to a safer corner of the tent, Palestinian security men fired back at the gunmen. This intensified the shootout, leaving two security men dead and several others injured.
The gunmen simply walked out and disappeared. No arrests were made.
Less than an hour after the incident Abbas told reporters in Gaza the incident should not be seen as an attempt on his life.
“What happened contained no personal or political message,” Abbas said. “It was the result of the tension and emotions that have gripped our people since the death of Yasser Arafat.”
Abbas admitted that the shootout had disturbed the memorial ceremony for Arafat, and said he had left the tent within minutes to avoid further incidents.
Visibly rattled by the incident Abbas said firing guns at times of grief was a Palestinian tradition and had already happened in Ramallah during Arafat’s burial on Friday.
Crown Prince Abdullah telephoned Abu Mazen soon after the incident and inquired about his wellbeing. They also discussed the latest developments in the Middle East.
It was not clear who the two dead security men were. According to Yasser Abed-Rabbo, a Palestine Liberation Organization official, the dead were local guards charged with securing the tent set up to receive up to 2,000 people. Eyewitnesses, however, said the two dead men had arrived with Abbas and may well have been his personal guards.
Abed-Rabbo also said he did not believe that the gunfight was meant to send a message.
The clash was indicative of the factional lawlessness plaguing Gaza and threatening the interim collective leadership of veteran moderates formed to usher Palestinians toward elections for a successor to Arafat.
Abbas, a critic of violence in a four-year-old Palestinian uprising, has been chosen as chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, one of the key posts held by Arafat.
This was Abbas’ first visit to Gaza in almost five years and his aides had planned it as the opening of his presidential election campaign. Gaza, however, has never liked Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, who had dedicated his 100-day premiership to disarming the radical groups there.
According to estimates, there are more than a million weapons in Gaza for a population of 1.8 million. Parts of Gaza had become no-go areas for the Palestinian Authority as early as the year 2000.
The gunfight in Gaza highlights the biggest problem that the future Palestinian president will face. The United States insists that the Palestinian Authority disarm the armed groups in Gaza and the West Bank as the first step toward reviving the peace talks within the so-called road map proposed by President George W. Bush.
Some analysts see the shootout as a warning to Abbas or whoever is elected president next January that the radical armed groups are determined to resist any accord with Israel that will not have their consent.
Abbas had gone to Gaza to open talks with Hamas and Islamic Jihad to persuade them to participate in the presidential election. Other groups have said they would boycott the poll, insisting that only armed struggle aimed at destroying Israel could lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. Abbas aides said the planned meetings in Gaza had been postponed, not canceled.
After the incident it was clear the new leadership was anxious to close the episode as quickly as possible. No investigation has been ordered and there would be no arrests. Any attempt at finding the murderers and bringing them to justice could lead to further clashes with their groups. And that is the last thing that Abbas and his allies want so close to the election.
