Jenin gunman confronts PA minister

A local West Bank strongman fired a gun near a Palestinian Authority minister's motorcade yesterday, wounding no one but stirring fears of civil strife if new PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas tries to rein in armed groups.

Witnesses said Zakaria Zubeidi, who heads the militant Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin, stormed into the government compound in the town after learning that new Interior Minister Nasser Yussef had arrived without notice.

"Before the truce, you used to coordinate visits with me," witnesses quoted Zubeidi as shouting angrily, referring to the cease-fire declared by Abbas and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last month.

Zubeidi then fired his weapon, hitting no one but prompting Yussef to order his arrest, witnesses said.

Yussef, part of a new, reform-minded cabinet that took office last week, later relented and held private talks with Zubeidi, whose group is part of Abbas' Fatah faction.

Zubeidi later said his differences were not with the Palestinian Authority but with the Jenin security chief, whom he accused of ignoring his group.

After the incident, Palestinian officials announced Yussef had fired the Jenin security commander, Fayez Arafat.

"The dismissal is part of security reform. The Zubeidi incident was not the main reason for the decision, rather part of it. The rule of law must be implemented," one of the officials said.

Abbas is under pressure from the United States and Israel to rein in armed factions.

But with militants like Zubeidi having long ruled the streets of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, many Palestinians fear they will not cooperate with Abbas' pledge to instill order.

Abbas' peace efforts with Israel have also raised the specter of a security crackdown, though he says he prefers to use dialogue.

Yussef played a leading role in a campaign of arrests targeting the Islamic militant group Hamas in 1996.