Gunmen kill Fatah security officer in Gaza: Medics

Gaza, March 16: Unidentified gunmen shot dead an intelligence officer loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza today, a day after rival factions agreed on the make-up of a unity government, medics and residents said.

No group immediately took responsibility for the attack on a car in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah in which Hussein Asserhi was killed and a passenger was wounded.

Palestinians hope the unity deal will end fighting between Abbas's secular Fatah group and Islamist Hamas that has claimed more than 300 Palestinian lives in the past year.

Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas agreed to form a coalition government during Saudi-sponsored talks in Mecca on February 8 after violence sparked fears of civil war.

Disagreement over who would control Palestinian security forces was a major obstacle in coalition talks, but Abbas and Haniyeh agreed to appoint an academic with no security experience to the hotly-contested post of interior minister.

The unity government is also aimed at easing a crippling Western aid embargo of the Palestinian Authority.

Reuters