Abbas forces arrest Hamas officials in West Bank

NABLUS, West Bank, July 2 (Reuters) Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah arrested a Hamas lawmaker and a top interior ministry official in the occupied West Bank today, security officials said.

Hamas denounced the arrests in the West Bank city of Nablus as part of a broader crackdown by Fatah forces after rival Hamas Islamists seized the Gaza Strip by force last month.

A Hamas spokesman said that Palestinian security forces arrested Ahmed Alhaj Ali, a Hamas lawmaker in the Palestinian Legislative Council, and Ahmed Doleh, assistant to the interior minister in the Hamas-led government that Abbas dismissed last month.

A spokesman for the forces who arrested the men would not say what charges they faced.

''In Hamas we condemn such an action and we hold leaders of the security services responsible for this crime and we call for the immediate release of leaders of the movement,'' said Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri.

Abbas sacked a Hamas-led government and formed his own emergency administration in the West Bank after Hamas routed Fatah forces in Gaza last month.

Reuters RKM DB2230