Palestinian forces deploy in Gaza after killings

GAZA, Dec 12 (Reuters) President Mahmoud Abbas today ordered security forces to deploy across Gaza after the killing of three young sons of one of his loyalists shocked Palestinians and stoked fears of internal strife.

Tension between the moderate president Abbas and the governing Hamas Islamist group has soared after the attack by unidentified gunmen yesterday. The three children of a senior intelligence chief were shot dead as they arrived at school.

It was the first time children have been targeted in such an attack.

A senior official from president Abbas's Fatah faction, Hussein al-Sheikh, said the Hamas government bore responsibility.

''Of course people very close to Hamas to say the least are behind the killings. We hold the government and the interior minister directly responsible,'' Mr Sheikh said.

''These are mafias, killer gangs,'' he added, referring to the perpetrators of the drive-by shooting.

Senior Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri angrily denied the militant movement had anything to do with the attack.

''It seems some Fatah leaders are exploiting the blood of innocent children to earn political gains. We hold those leaders fully responsible for the grave consequences that may result from the fabrication and lies they are making.'' CHILDREN PAY RESPECTS Early today, heavily armed members of security forces that take their orders from president Abbas took up positions around key installations and road junctions in Gaza City.

''Palestinian security forces deployed in all streets of Gaza City to prevent crime. This was upon orders from President Abbas,'' said one Palestinian security source.

A force loyal to Hamas also strengthened its positions in the coastal strip. There was no immediate sign of friction between the Abbas and Hamas loyalists.

Scores of children on their way to school paid their respects at a mourning tent erected in Gaza City for the dead boys. They then set fire to tyres in the streets to protest the killings, sending clouds of black smoke into the air.

Angry mourners firing guns yesterday stormed the parliament compound during the funeral for the boys, aged 6 to 9.

Both president Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, said they had urged the authorities to find the killers of Colonel Baha Balousha's children.

Besides internal political unrest, Gaza is riven with clan fighting and a surge in crime following a Western aid embargo on the Hamas government that has deepened poverty.

Political tension has been rising over the failure of Hamas and the formerly dominant Fatah to form a unity government that Palestinians hope might end the Western boycott.

President Abbas aides said on Saturday the president planned to call early elections after talks on a unity government foundered.

Hamas accused Abbas of trying to topple the government, which came to power after beating Fatah in elections last January.

Unity talks broke down over Hamas's rejection of Western demands that it recognise Israel, and its insistence on holding the interior and finance portfolios in any new government.

President Abbas, a moderate who favours peace negotiations with Israel, was elected separately in early 2005.

REUTERS SHB VV1513