(AFP/Yahoo) Khaled Abu Toameh - In Gaza City, thousands of Palestinians participated in a huge rally Thursday to demand reforms and an end to corruption in the PA leadership. The protest came amid growing tensions between rival Palestinian security services. Palestinian journalists reported that members of the National Security Force were preparing to launch a massive crackdown on former Gaza security chief Muhammad Dahlan's supporters. (Jerusalem Post) The rally was intended as a show of force by opponents of Musa Arafat inside Fatah, following two days of loudspeaker appeals in Palestinian refugee camps. Supporters of Musa Arafat had managed to muster only about 300 people at their own rally on Wednesday. Chanting "Try the symbols of corruption before the people tries them," the Thursday demonstration marched to the Palestinian Legislative Council building, spraying automatic gunfire in the air. Earlier, the armed militants said in a statement, "Our primary task now is to fight against corruption and corrupt people in the same way that we are struggling against the Israeli enemy."
2004-07-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive