Abbas orders elite guard to attack Hamas

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time Thursday ordered his elite presidential guard to strike back against Hamas militants bent on besieging his Gaza City compound.

Previously, Abbas of Fatah had told the guard to maintain a defensive posture at his house and office in Gaza.

Abbas was in the West Bank town of Ramallah when he handed down the order.

This is a breaking news update. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070614/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians;_ylt=Auoi1evCxkZkcbe_ipvvGvhvaA8F

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Hamas besieged a Fatah post in Gaza on Thursday as factional clashes entered their second week and the Palestinian president mulled firing the teetering coalition cabinet uniting the rivals.

An increasingly alarmed international community warned that the no-holds-barred power struggle between Islamist Hamas and secular Fatah endangered prospects of a future Palestinian state and peace with Israel.

The United Nations said it was mulling sending foreign troops to quell the spiralling bloodshed that threatens to sink into anarchy the impoverished and weapons-awashed Gaza, one of the world's most densely populated places.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was considering sacking the unity cabinet between his Fatah and rival Hamas after warning of collapse and civil war if the Gaza "madness" continued, officials told AFP.

"He is seriously considering dismissing the government," one senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity.


more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070614/ts_afp/mideastgaza_070614092726