Gunman (Archive photo)
Photo: AP
PA police abduct Hamas man
Off-duty Palestinian police officers kidnap Hamas member they say killed their colleague in earlier riots; Hamas responds with ultimatum, threatens to resort to violence unless abductors release man shortly
Tensions were high in Gaza City Sunday evening after armed men – apparently off-duty Palestinian police officers – abducted a Hamas member they said killed their colleague.
The armed kidnappers shoved the Hamas man into a vehicle and fled the scene. Palestinian sources said the kidnapped man was brought to a police station by his abductors and that the policemen behind the kidnapping demanded he be brought to justice by the Palestinian Authority.
Meanwhile, Hamas members went on a high state of alert and boosted their presence at the site of the incident. The organization announced it was giving the Palestinian Authority four hours to release the abducted man – before Hamas members release him themselves, even at the price of bloodshed.
The abduction stems from a Palestinian Authority decision several months ago to prevent protesters from publicly carrying arms during rallies. At the time, policemen at a PA roadblock stopped a vehicle carrying Hamas members in order to search the car for weapons. The passengers in the vehicle included Muhammad Rantisi, a senior Hamas figure and the son of assassinated Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Rantisi.
Police officers keep promise
The Hamas men refused to allow the search and fired at the officers, before fleeing the scene. A short time later, exchanges of fire involving Hamas men and Palestinian police officers ensured. The violent clashes spread across Gaza City and saw Hamas members firing shells at PA police stations and setting some of them on fire.
One police officer was killed by Hamas members during the violence.
Following the killing, the killed officer's colleagues raided public buildings on several occasions, including the Palestinian parliament, and demand that the killers be detained. The officers also demanded better weapons and more ammunition and charged they run out of ammunition during their clashes with Hamas.
At one point, the policemen warned they would be forced to take the law into their own hands unless the killing suspect they identified is arrested.
Sunday evening, the police officers apparently delivered on their promise and abducted the suspect.
