Special report: Hamas-led cabinet takes office

    GAZA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Clashes erupted between supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza City on Saturday over disputes concerning control of the Palestinian security forces.

A rally of supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement blocked the main roads in Gaza City. [Xinhua/Reuters]

    Witnesses said that hundreds of Fatah supporters blocked the main roads in Gaza City, burned tires and chanted slogans against Hamas' politburo chief Khaled Meshaal, who accused Abbas and Fatah members of being corrupted and attempting to topple the Hamas-led cabinet.

    Speaking to a rally of supporters in Damascus on Friday, Meshaal, who lives in exile in Syria, also said that Hamas rejected Abbas' veto of a Hamas cabinet decision to appoint a top militant to head a new security force.

    Palestinian chief negotiator and senior Fatah member SaebErekat slammed Meshaal's speech on Saturday as "very dangerous", urging Hamas to immediately recant the statements and shoulder its duties.

    About 21 Palestinians were injured in the clashes between pro-Fatah and pro-Hamas students and militants in Gaza City. Meanwhile, witnesses said that hundreds of Fatah supporters tried to break into a building of the Palestinian Legislative Council now dominated by Hamas in Gaza City, but were prevented by the police.

    A Palestinian boy was injured by the shrapnel of a homemade grenade thrown by Fatah militants at the building, the witnesses added.

    The row over the control of Palestinian security forces erupted as the Hamas government decided to create a new security troop and appoint Jamal Abu Samhadana as the general inspector of the Interior Ministry.

    Abu Samhadana is head of the Popular Resistance Committees, a top militant high on the wanted list of Israel for alleged involvement in anti-Israeli attacks.

    But Abbas vetoed the cabinet decision on Friday, terming it illegal, while Hamas retorted that the decision came within law and the Palestinian national interests.

A rally of supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement blocked the main roads in Gaza City. [Xinhua/Reuters]

    Senior leaders of Hamas and Fatah were currently holding a meeting at an Egyptian diplomat's residence in Gaza City in a bid to diffuse the tension over the issue, Palestinian sources close to the Fatah movement said.

    The sources also said that the meeting was aimed to bridge the gaps and differences between the two movements and prevent further deterioration of the security situation in the Palestinian territories.

    Hamas defeated Abbas' Fatah movement in the January elections and its government formally took office on March 29. But the security forces consist mainly of Fatah members and supporters.

    The radical Islamic group has rejected Abbas' calls to open talks with Israel and honor previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements, insisting on Israel's destruction. Enditem