MIDDLE EAST: Masked Palestinian gunmen briefly kidnapped an Italian peace activist in the Gaza Strip and blew up a United Nations club yesterday in separate incidents that underscored growing unrest.
They dealt an embarrassing blow to President Mahmoud Abbas just hours after he had vowed to end disorder that threatens to derail a January 25th election and as militant groups spurned his plea to renew a truce with Israel.
Senior members of his Fatah group said the ballot should be delayed if chaos continued and if Israel implemented a threat to bar voting in East Jerusalem in protest at the participation of Hamas. Firing shots in the air, the gunmen seized Alessandro Bernardini during a visit by a delegation of 18 Italians ahead of the parliamentary election. He was freed after several hours. Three British hostages were set free in Gaza on Friday.
Palestinian security forces said they briefly came under fire from the kidnappers, but found the gunmen had abandoned Mr Bernardini before they reached the building where he was being held. "I am fine, I am fine ... They gave me cigarettes and tea," Mr Bernardini told reporters, looking shaken but unhurt.
"I will never change my idea about the occupation," he said, referring to Israel's occupation of land that Palestinians seek for a state. "I am with the Palestinian people." An armed offshoot of Abbas's own ruling Fatah movement said it carried out the kidnapping.
The faction, calling itself Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades-Sunni People, said its demands were a full investigation into the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004 and the removal of corrupt leaders from Fatah.
Hours earlier, gunmen stormed a United Nations club in Gaza City and blew up the bar - the only place where alcohol is served openly in the conservative Muslim territory. No one was hurt.