Senior Hamas official: Palestinian President Abbas launching full-out war in West Bank

Source: AP, 22-8-2007
BEIRUT, Lebanon: A senior Hamas official in Lebanon on Wednesday accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of launching a full-out war against his occupation-resistance militant group in the West Bank.
Osama Hamdan, who is Hamas` representative in Lebanon, told reporters that Abbas is trying to transform his Fatah-run West Bank into a "lawless area controlled by the heads of security agencies."
Hamdan added that such measures by the Fatah leader would not "make Hamas abandon its method of resistance and the rights of our people."
Hamas came to power in the West Bank and Gaza in March 2006, but after months of bloody Palestinian infighting which culminated with Hamas` overrunning Gaza in June, Abbas set up his West Bank government and fired Hamas officials.
Since then, "Israel" and the international community have embraced Abbas in an attempt to prevent further gains by the popular Islamic movement. Hamas has remained largely besieged in Gaza.
Hamas officials have been complaining for weeks about crackdowns against them in the West Bank by Abbas` Fatah group.
On Wednesday, Hamas officials in the Palestinian territories said that nine members including a mosque preacher were detained in the West Bank.
"What is happening in the West Bank is a full-out war against Hamas," Hamdan said. "We would like to remind those who imagine otherwise, that Hamas faced a wild campaign by the enemy (‘Israel') in the past years and offered hundreds of martyrs and thousands of detainees and the people did not abandon it."
Speaking about a proposal by Abbas to dispatch an international peacekeeping force to Gaza, Hamdan said the Palestinian president is "calling for brining a new occupation under the slogan of international forces."