Abbas to cancel Hamas security appointment -aide

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Apr 21 (Reuters) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will cancel a senior security appointment made by the new Hamas-led government this week, a senior aide today said, underscoring internal tensions.

Yesterday, the Hamas government appointed Jamal Abu Samhadana, a radical high on Israel's most wanted list, to supervise the Interior Ministry and set up a new police force from militants to crack down on anarchy and chaos.

The row over Samhadana's appointment threatens to widen Abbas's rift with the Islamic militant group, which has rejected the president's calls to pursue peace with Israel.

Senior Abbas aide Tayeb Abdel-Rahim said the president would send a letter to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

''The letter will say this decision is illegal ... The president will issue a presidential order to cancel the appointment,'' Abdel-Rahim told reporters, without saying why the appointment was construed as illegal.

Under the Palestinian basic law, which functions as a constitution, the president has the power to veto senior government appointments.

Samhadana's elevation was seen as an attempt by Hamas to strengthen its grip on the Interior Ministry, which controls several security agencies, especially after Abbas appointed one of his own loyalists, Rashid Abu Shbak, as its director-general.

Samhadana told Reuters today he would not abandon the fight against Israel, which has long sought to kill him.

Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, took office last month after trouncing Abbas's Fatah faction in January parliamentary elections.

REUTERS OM RAI2202