Special report: Hamas-led cabinet takes office

Hamas militia members march after they evacuated Gaza's streets May 26, 2006.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Hamas militia members stand on their vehicle after they evacuated Gaza's streets May 26, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    GAZA, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Interior Minister Said Siam ordered Friday to withdraw a 3,000-member force from Gaza Strip streets following a wave of violence with other official security forces, the state-run Palestine TV reported.

    Siam had instructed the deployment of the force in the Gaza Strip on May 17, violence with other official security forces has since then occurred almost daily. Six Palestinians and a Jordanian citizen were killed in the clashes.

    Palestinian witnesses in Gaza City confirmed the report, saying that they did not see any member of the force on Friday.

    Meanwhile, commander of the force Yousef al-Zahar told Xinhua in a telephone interview that Siam had ordered to redeploy the force and gradually pull them out of Gaza Strip streets.

    "The decision was made to defuse tension in the streets," saidal-Zahar, the youngest brother of Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar of the Hamas-led government.

    The decision was made as an inter-Palestinian dialogue has been held for the second day.

    An official statement of the Hamas-led cabinet said that the government instructed the special aiding force to redeploy in the Gaza Strip and leave sensitive locations.

    However, Ghazi Hamad, spokesman of the cabinet, said that the decision was not to withdraw the force completely from the streets, but to redeploy it in areas far away from friction with other militants.

    "Taking members of the security force away from sensitive locations is aimed at defusing tension and protecting the interests of our people," Hamad said, adding redeployment is part of an agreement reached between Hamas and Fatah. Enditem