Two Palestinian security men were killed in a shooting incident as PLO leader Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) visited a mourning tent at late president Yasser Arafat's Gaza City headquarters, medical sources said. Four other people were injured in the incident although Abbas himself, surrounded by aides and guards, was not wounded, the sources added.
Initial reports said Abbas was the target of an assassination attempt. Later, witnesses said that the former security chief Mohammed Dahlan was also with Abbas at the time and he might be the target.
According to eyewitnesses, a group of about 20 armed men entered the mourning tent and shouted, "Abbas and Dahlan are agents for the Americans!"
On his part, Abu Mazen denied the shootout was aimed at him. "What happened in the mourning tent does not have any personal or political meaning," Abbas told al-Jazeera TV. He said the shooting was caused by the outburst of emotions for late Yasser Arafat.
Abbas went to the Gaza Strip to accept mourners and meet with Palestinian factions, including the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements. Upon his arrival, gunfire erupted at the tent set up in memory of Yasser Arafat, witnesses said. The gunfire lasted several minutes, they said, according to The AP.
Abbas was taken to Palestinian headquarters after the shooting, witnesses said.
Abbas, 69, arrived in Gaza hours after he was chosen by Fatah to run as its candidate in elections to replace Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority, a senior official told the AFP.
Earlier it was reported that Palestinian officials scheduled presidential elections for Sunday Jan. 9, 2005. The vote was declared by temporary president Rauhi Fattouh.
Candidates will be allowed to submit their documents for the ballot for 12 days, starting on Nov. 20, he disclosed on Sunday, according to The AP. The campaigning period will last from Dec. 27 until Jan. 8, Fattouh said. (albawaba.com)
