Fatah, Hamas members clash in West Bank

NABLUS, West Bank, Dec 22 (Reuters) Gunmen loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah opened fire on Hamas members in the occupied West Bank today, wounding at least nine civilians, hospital officials and witnesses said. They said gunmen opened fire as thousands of Hamas activists and militants attended a rally in the city of Nablus.

It was the worst violence in the West Bank since Abbas last week threw down the gauntlet to the Hamas government by calling for fresh parliamentary and presidential elections. Days of violence earlier this week in the Gaza Strip killed 10 people.

A senior security source said Abbas had deployed Palestinian security forces loyal to him to try to calm tensions in Nablus.

A Fatah official told Reuters the Hamas Islamists chose to hold the rally despite what he said was an earlier agreement to delay it.

''The friction was already there. Now the two sides are shooting at each other,'' the official said.

The nine people wounded were civilians, witnesses and hospital officials said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, called for an end to the violence while speaking after Friday prayers in Gaza City.

''We continue to stress that all parties must abide by the reconciliation ... agreement. We should continue to restrain ourselves in order to preserve Palestinian blood and reinforce national unity,'' Haniyeh said.

The two sides agreed on a truce in Gaza earlier this week that has largely held.

Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, defeated Abbas's long-dominant Fatah party in elections in January.

Hamas has rejected Abbas's call for fresh elections and said such a move amounted to a ''coup''.

Unknown gunmen clashed with Hamas fighters near the Gaza City home of the Hamas-led government's Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar early today, Palestinian witnesses said.

Local residents said they suspected the gunmen were from a local clan rather than Fatah. No casualties were reported.

Abbas made his election call after talks on forming a unity government between Fatah and Hamas collapsed. The aim had been to establish a cabinet that could end Western isolation of the government.

Reuters SP DB1852