Cops march in favour of Abbas to counter Hamas

Thousands of police loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas marched in a show of force on Thursday...

Thousands of police loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas marched in a show of force on Thursday, a day after the Hamas government deployed a 3,000-strong army of militants with assault rifles, grenades and missiles in its most brazen power play yet.

Abbas, who has been wrangling with Hamas over control of the security forces, demanded that the government take the new militia off the streets immediately, said Saeb Erekat, an Abbas adviser. However, PM Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said the unit is legal and suggested it would not be disbanded.

There were no signs that Palestinian police, dominated by supporters of Abbas’ Fatah Party, were getting ready to take on the Hamas unit. In Thursday’s march, police chanted ‘‘Jerusalem, the president, the homeland,’’ clapping and whistling, as they walked past Hamas gunmen. However, neither made a move.

Tensions were also rising in the West Bank, where a senior Hamas politician, Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Shaer, had to cut short a meeting after Fatah gunmen surrounded an office building he was in and fired in the air. Shaer later left town under heavy police escort. The unprecedented Hamas-Fatah friction, including ambushes against two Hamas gunmen in Gaza earlier in the week, came amid new efforts to explore a possible revival of Mideast peace talks.

–IBRAHIM BARZAK

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