Gunmen attack Palestinian news agency in Gaza

GAZA, Sep 19 (Reuters) Gunmen stormed an office of a Palestinian news service under the control of President Mahmoud Abbas today, beating up one reporter and vandalising equipment, witnesses and the news agency said.

The attack in Gaza coincided with rising tension between Abbas's Fatah movement and Hamas over the killing last week of a senior intelligence official loyal to the president, a shooting that has further complicated efforts to form a unity government.

Witnesses said unidentified gunmen smashed a computer and destroyed other equipment at the official WAFA news agency office in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis.

The agency said one reporter was attacked and taken to hospital for treatment.

While there was no claim of responsibility, the gunmen accused WAFA of biased media coverage. Wafa has not blamed the attack on any faction.

Last June, gunmen stormed an office of Palestine TV in Gaza, accusing the network, which is also controlled by Abbas, of favouring Fatah. Fatah had blamed militants from the Hamas Islamist movement for that incident, a charge Hamas denied.

Seeking to resolve their differences and lift Western sanctions, the moderate Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas last week announced plans to form a unity government.

But bickering has since broken out, with Abbas freezing talks after accusing Hamas of reneging on a deal he says includes accepting interim peace accords with the Jewish state.

The United States also said the terms of the unity government did not go far enough in recognising Israel and renouncing violence.

Hamas has said talks were only on hold while Abbas attended UN meetings in New York, insisting it would abide by the deals if they were in the ''interest of the Palestinian people''.

Further jeopardising the planned unity government, Fatah officials said Abbas would not agree to form the coalition until Hamas arrested those behind the killing of Jad Tayeh, a senior official in the General Intelligence service in Gaza last week.

Four of his bodyguards were also killed in the drive-by shooting.

Hamas in a statement today reiterated it was not responsible for the killings and said its patience could run out if accusations of the group's involvement continued.

Hundreds of relatives of the dead men marched to parliament in Gaza today, firing rifles into the air. Some carried rocket-propelled grenades. There were no clashes.

Hamas, which is sworn to destroy Israel, scored a surprise win over Fatah in parliamentary elections last January.

It took power in March, prompting the West to cut off financial aid over the group's refusal to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept interim peace deals.

REUTERS DKA PM1952