MIDDLE EAST:A senior member of the Palestinian Fatah movement was detained by Hamas gunmen in Gaza yesterday in a fresh round of friction between the two groups.
Omar al-Ghoul, an adviser to Salam Fayyad, the prime minister, was seized from his home before dawn. An opponent of Hamas, Mr Ghoul writes a newspaper column that is frequently critical of Hamas.
He had arrived in Gaza on Thursday, from the West Bank, to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law.
A Hamas spokesman said only that he was being investigated over "violations to the law".
In the West Bank, Hamas said several of its members had been detained by Fatah officials on Thursday night.
Riyad al-Malki, the information minister, blamed Mr Ghoul's detention on "criminals working for Hamas".
In a separate incident, three Palestinians were killed and 30 injured by an explosion during a funeral procession in Gaza City for a Fatah militant, who was killed by an Israeli air strike on Thursday.
The explosion appeared to be a grenade attack on the funeral parade, although some reports suggested it may have been an accidental blast.
- (Guardian service)