Last update - 00:00 14/12/2007
Top Fatah official abducted by Hamas gunmen in Gaza Strip
By News Agencies
A senior adviser in the Palestinian government was abducted by unknown gunmen in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Friday, officials in Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction said.
It was the highest-profile abduction since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June after routing secular Fatah forces.
A Hamas spokesman, Ihab al-Ghussein, confirmed that al-Ghoul was detained and is being interrogated for illegal activities. He didn't elaborate.
Abbas issued a terse statement, read out on Palestinian television, which condemned the abduction and accused Hamas of setting off an explosion that ripped through a funeral procession for three militants.
Fayyad's information minister, Riyad al-Malki, blamed "criminals working for Hamas" for the abduction and called for Ghoul's immediate release, saying the kidnapping was barbaric behavior and part of Hamas' attempts to extort his government.
Omar Al-Ghoul is an adviser to Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister appointed to lead the West Bank government after Hamas took control of Gaza. Al-Ghoul is considered a harsh critic of Hamas and has a regular newspaper column in which he frequently attacks the Islamic movement.
Al-Ghoul arrived in Gaza from the West Bank on Thursday to attend the funeral of his mother-in law. Around 4 a.m. Friday, armed gunmen in civilian clothes burst into his Gaza home, turning it upside down and seizing Al-Ghoul, his relatives reported.
Also Thursday, an explosion hit a funeral procession for three militants killed in an Israel Air Force strike on Thursday.
Medical officials said at least 20 mourners were wounded in Friday's funeral blast, which police believe may have been caused by a grenade dropped by a gunman.
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