Hamas arrests Fatah-affiliated doctor in Gaza

GAZA, Aug 9 (Reuters) Hamas security men arrested a Fatah-affiliated physican today, a day after doctors and nurses at Gaza's main hospital held a protest against his dismissal from a managerial post at the facility.

Dr Goma Assaqa was taken from his home in the early hours of the morning by members of Hamas's Executive Force, his wife said.

It was the first arrest by Hamas Islamists of a high-profile physician in the Gaza Strip since they took over the territory in a brief civil war with President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement in June.

As members of the Executive Force looked on with visible displeasure, dozens of medical staff at Shifa Hospital stopped work for two hours yesterday, demanding Assaqa's reinstatement as public relations director.

They also called on the Hamas-run government in Gaza to return Fatah-appointed hospital chief Dr Hazzaa Abed to his post.

Since Hamas took over in Gaza, many of its institutions -- including the courts -- have been in a state of confusion, with directors appointed separately by the Islamic group and Fatah insisting they are in charge.

A Hamas official denied Assaqa's arrest was politically motivated.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza has said Assaqa and Abed were fired in response to ''financial, administrative and moral corruption'' at Shifa Hospital, which serves Gaza's population of 1.5 million.

REUTERS GL BD1641