GAZA, Jan. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- A leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, who was arrested by Palestinian security forces for alleged involvement in the kidnapping of three Britons last week, was released in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.

   "Alaa al-Hams has been set free after we reached an agreement with the security forces to end protests," said a spokesman for the al-Aqsa splinter group led by al-Hams.

   Al-Hams was arrested in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Tuesday night for alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a British peace activist and her visiting parents last week.

   The hostages were released unharmed last Friday after three days in captivity.

   On Wednesday, militants belonging to al-Ham's cell rampaged in Rafah, forced the key Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border into a brief shutdown and occupied several government buildings nearby in protest against the arrest of al-Hams.

   The militants then smashed into a cement wall, part of the Gaza border fence, by stolen bulldozers, demanding the immediate release of al-Hams.

   Amid the chaos, the militants fired at the Egyptian security forces deployed on the other side of the border and two Egyptian soldiers were killed and about 10 other soldiers and 14 Palestinians wounded in the following fierce clashes between the two sides.

   The militants also threatened to disrupt polls in Rafah in the upcoming Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 25 if al-Hams is not freed.

   The incidents further underscored prevalent chaos in the Gaza Strip, from which Israel withdrew in September after 38 years of occupation.

   It is seen as another blow to Palestinian President Abbas in his uphill battle to stem out lawlessness. Enditem