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Riyadh launches peace initiative

Atul Aneja

Palestinian factions invited for talks; toll in internecine fighting rises to 30

DUBAI: The death toll in fighting between Fatah and the rival Palestinian group Hamas has risen to 30 even as Saudi Arabia launched a diplomatic initiative to restore calm.

Five more persons, including three Hamas activists died in fresh fighting on Monday. The clashes, which were so far confined to Gaza, have now spread to the West Bank. Gunmen belonging to the pro-Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades entered a bank in Nablus and kidnapped five Hamas members, including the bodyguard of Deputy Prime Minister Nasser al-Shaer. A bomb blast damaged the Gaza City home of a bodyguard of Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan.

There has been no let-up in hostage-taking by the two groups. On Sunday, Hamas loyalists in central Gaza kidnapped Sayyed Shabban, a Brigadier General in the National Security Forces. He is believed to be the senior-most official from either side to have been snatched in the factional fighting that erupted on Thursday night.

Offer welcomed

Meanwhile, Fatah and Hamas have accepted a Saudi Arabian invitation for talks in Mecca. The dates for a dialogue have so far not been fixed. A Palestinian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Hamas had accepted the Saudi invitation.

"We welcome the invitation by His Majesty King Abdullah and the Government appreciates this generous position, which comes in an attempt to resolve Palestinian internal differences," said Taher An-Nono.

Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, a senior Fatah official and adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also welcomed the invitation and said: "We are ready to go to the Kingdom and to start talks."

In a related development, a suicide bomber killed three persons in a bakery in the southern Israeli town of Eilat. The blast severely damaged the bakery in a residential neighbourhood. Several

Palestinian militant groups said they carried out the attack — the first suicide bombing in Israel since April 2006. The organisations which claimed responsibility for the attack included the Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and the Islamic Brigade, a previously unknown group.

The force of the explosion left body parts scattered around the bakery. Eilat police commander Bruno Stein warned more bombers might be present in the area. "Our assumption is that it's not one bomber, and there might be more bombers in Eilat right now," he said. A senior adviser to Mr. Abbas condemned the attack. "We reject these acts and we do not believe that they are in the interest of the Palestinian cause. They blacken the image of the Palestinian people".

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