Dozens of Fatah men cross border into Egypt

EL ARISH, Egypt, June 19 (Reuters) Dozens of Fatah loyalists, including security men, entered Egypt from Gaza overnight fearing they may be targeted by Hamas Islamists who have seized control of the coastal strip, Egyptian security officials said today.

They said about 70 men were found by border agents on the Egyptian side of the Gaza-Egypt frontier on Monday night, and that some were police officers with their weapons.

More than 340 Palestinians have now taken refuge in Egypt since last week's Hamas takeover of Gaza, while 108 others have returned to Gaza after Hamas agreed to re-admit them provided they left their guns in Egypt, the officials said.

''Palestinian policemen and civilians entered Egypt via a border point north of the Salaheddin gate and have been transported to central security camps in Rafah,'' an Egyptian security official in north Sinai told Reuters, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

Another security official said negotiations were under way to transfer the Palestinians currently in Egypt via Jordan to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement has retained its sway.

Hamas seized the Gaza Strip by force last week.

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza has stayed shut throughout the crisis, leaving some 4,000 Palestinian travellers stranded in the El Arish and other areas of north Sinai.

Reuters JK GC1532