Hamas official warns nations to stay out of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
By JPOST.COM STAFF, APmahmoud zahar 311(photo credit: AP)
A senior Hamas official warned Western nations on Friday not to allow Israeli agents to operate from within their territories.During a sermon in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Zahar warned that the Weststands to lose by helping Israel in taking the conflict abroad.Zahar warned that Hamas would confront those nations that assist Israel.The Hamas leader was apparently responding to certain reports accordingto which the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, which iswidely believed to have been carried out by the Mossad, was coordinated with other Western nations.Hamas claimed Friday that two ex-officers from the rival Fatahorganization were involved in the killing of al-Mabhouh, and Fatah shotback by insinuating Hamas members were the ones who collaborated withthe killers.The slaying of al-Mabhouh in a luxury Dubai hotel room last month hassparked bitter recriminations among the rival Palestinian factions,which have long competed for influence in the Palestinian territories.Dubai police unveiled 11 suspects — 10 men and one woman — whoapparently traveled to Dubai on European passports with real names andauthentic data, but possibly altered photos.Dubai also said police had two Palestinians in custody for allegedinvolvement in the murder of al-Mabhouh, whose body was found on Jan.20. The two were arrested in Jordan shortly after the killing, thensent back to Dubai.A Hamas Web site, the Palestine Information Center, said those two menwere former Fatah security officers and current employees of a seniorFatah official, who was not identified. Dubai authorities have notidentified the two Palestinians and would not comment Friday.Hamas stopped short of accusing Fatah of collaborating with the Mossad,however. Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas's leadership in Damascus,told The Associated Press on Friday that Hamas is "not accusing anyparty" other than Israel, though he said the agents might have used"small collaborators for logistic issues."
The Hamas Web site identified the two men as Anwar Shheibar and AhmadHassanain. It said they served in Fatah's security services in Gaza,fled the territory in 2006, and currently work for a constructioncompany owned by a high-ranking Fatah official, Mohammed Dahlan.Dahlan denied any connection to the men or to the killing."I don't have any companies in Dubai and I don't know these people," hetold The Associated Press by telephone from Amman, Jordan."Only Hamas knew [al-Mabhouh] was in Dubai, so it's their fault, notthe Palestinian Authority's," he said. "For political reasons Hamas isblaming us for its own internal problems."A Fatah spokesman also denied the charge. "Hamas is trying by theseaccusations to cover up the security flaws in the first lines of itsleadership," said Adnan Damiri, a spokesman for Palestinian securityforces in the Fatah-ruled West Bank. "Hamas is the only one to know themovement of Al-Mabhouh, and from there the information went to theIsraelis."Officials of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah said the two menwere former members of Fatah who later joined Hamas security forces inGaza. They said the men were sent to Dubai on Hamas business last monthbut had no further details. They spoke on condition of anonymitybecause they had not been given permission to comment publicly.
