Gunmen shoot dead Hamas judge at Gaza courthouse

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza, Dec 13 (Reuters) Unidentified gunmen dragged a judge from the Hamas Islamist movement out of a taxi and shot him dead in front of his courthouse in Gaza today, increasing fears of a Palestinian civil war.

Officials from the governing Hamas faction said Bassam al-Fara, 28, was a judge in a civil court but also a member of the group's armed wing.

Witnesses who declined to be identified told Reuters at the scene the gunmen had eaten breakfast in a nearby restaurant in the town of Khan Younis while waiting for Fara to arrive. They shot him at point blank range after pulling him from the car.

Tensions and violence have spiralled in Gaza and the occupied West Bank between Hamas and the rival Fatah faction of moderate President Mahmoud Abbas after attempts to form a national unity government failed.

Some Abbas aides have said he might call early elections in a speech on Saturday to break the deadlock and ease Western sanctions imposed on the government because of Hamas's refusal to recognise Israel and renounce violence.

But they said he would leave the door open to dialogue with Hamas. Abbas, a cautious leader who prefers to avoid confrontation, is probably reluctant to stoke tensions with dramatic announcements at a time when emotions are running high.

Unrest has increased since the killing of three young sons of one of Abbas's top intelligence officials in Gaza on Monday.

No one claimed responsibility for the shooting of the judge.

Hamas, which accuses Fatah of trying to topple its government, issued a statement blaming the killing on a Fatah ''death squad''.

''The seekers of the coup in Fatah bear the responsibility for all actions of chaos taking place in the Palestinian streets,'' senior Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri told Reuters.

A Fatah spokesman, Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, criticised Hamas for blaming the once dominant faction.

''The brothers in Hamas must be accurate and not throw quick accusations before an investigation has yet to start,'' he said.

POLITICAL UNREST, CLAN FIGHTING Some 2,000 Fatah gunmen and security personnel loyal to Abbas later marched to the president's Gaza City office.

The marchers called on Abbas to sack the government and the interior minister over the collapse in law and order. They earlier blocked roads and fired automatic weapons into the air.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, criticised the deployment in Gaza of security forces loyal to Abbas and said the movement's surprise election victory over Fatah in January should be accepted.

''The comprehensive solution to this situation is to respect the will of the Palestinian people,'' Haniyeh told a news conference in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

In the West Bank town of Jenin, Palestinian security forces said police shot and killed a militant of unknown affiliation in the town who had opened fired on them.

Security forces loyal to Abbas traded gunfire with Hamas policemen in Gaza yesterday, wounding four people.

A senior official from Fatah has said the Hamas government bore responsibility for Monday's unprecedented attack on children, which has shocked even Palestinians inured to incessant conflict. Hamas has denied the movement was involved.

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

REUTERS BDP RN1812