Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Hamas: PA forces detain 72 affiliates in December

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(MaanImages/Rami Swidan, File)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas said Tuesday that Palestinian Authority security services are continuing to detain their affiliates in the West Bank, breaking a key tenet of the reconciliation deal with ruling PA faction Fatah.

Forces in the West Bank detained 72 Hamas supporters during December 2011, a statement from Hamas' media office said.

Most of those are prisoners freed by Israel, imams, preachers and students, the release said.

"It is an ongoing campaign that never stopped, but increased despite the reconciliation agreement and the ongoing meetings between Hamas and Fatah leaders," the statement added.

The May reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas sought to end four years of divided administrations, with Hamas ruling the Gaza Strip and Fatah dominating the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum warned in mid-December that Fatah's continued detention of Hamas affiliates threatened the accord, frustrations that were echoed by Fatah officials.

On Dec. 24 Nablus billionaire Munib al-Masri, who was involved in mediation efforts, told reporters in Gaza City that all political detainees would be freed by the end of the year.

But over the next two days some 50 Fatah affiliates were summoned by Hamas security forces in Gaza, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said.

PCHR accused the Hamas administration of staging a "campaign of summons and arrests" targeting Fatah's former security officers in the Gaza Strip, some of whom reported being subject to torture.

Rivalry between Fatah and Hamas exploded into near-civil war in 2007, with both sides accusing the other of engaging in violent subterfuge to gain power, and waging a campaign of repression against their affiliates ever since.

Maan News Agency

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