Hamas members detained by both Fatah and Shin Bet

Source: Reuters & AP, 03-7-2007
Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas arrested a Hamas lawmaker and a top Interior Ministry official in the occupied West Bank Monday, security officials said.
A Hamas spokesman said that Palestinian security forces arrested Ahmad Alhaj Ali, a Hamas lawmaker in the Palestinian Legislative Council, and Ahmad Doleh, assistant to the interior minister in the Hamas-led government. A spokesman for the Fatah forces who arrested the men would not say what charges they faced.
"In Hamas we condemn such an action and we hold leaders of the security services responsible for this crime and we call for the immediate release of leaders of the movement," said Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri.
In Gaza, meanwhile, Hamas security forces seized Monday a leading member of the Al-Qaeda-inspired Army of Islam, the group which says it is holding a BBC correspondent hostage.
Abu Zuhri told Reuters the man known as Khattab al-Maqdessi, who had acted as a spokesman for the group, was detained by Hamas` Executive Force after a gun battle. His real name is Ahmad al-Mathloum, a source in Hamas said.
A source close to the Army of Islam said he had been surprised near his home and seized after an exchange of fire. The Army of Islam, which is linked to one of Gaza`s powerful clans, has issued videos on Web sites used by Al-Qaeda militants showing BBC journalist Alan Johnston.
It is seeking the release of prisoners in Britain and other countries and has threatened to kill Johnston if security forces try to free him by force.
Abu Zuhri said the Army of Islam seized 10 students who support Hamas after Maqdessi`s capture. The Executive Force detained other members of the radical group last week.
"The arrests were carried out after all negotiation attempts and the use of peaceful means failed to free the abducted journalist," the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry said in a statement in Gaza. "The arrests are targeting figures who were involved in the abduction of the journalist," the statement said.
In Occupied Jerusalem (al-Quds), meanwhile, "Israeli" authorities have arrested 11 Hamas members in over the past several months, "Israel's" Shin Bet security service announced Monday.
Abu Zuhri denied any connection between Hamas and the Jerusalem charities and said the arrested are "no more than religious preachers."