Abbas declares Hamas force 'illegal' - CBC News

[applegrove]

Abbas declares Hamas force 'illegal'
Last Updated: Saturday, January 6, 2007 | 7:09 PM ET
CBC News

"Hamas defied Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's decree Saturday that its paramilitary unit is illegal, saying it will double its ranks and fight any attempt to disband the force.

The decree by Abbas is the latest move in an increasingly bloody faceoff between the militant group and Abbas's rival Fatah party.

The president's statement said the Hamas Executive Force — with its estimated 6,000 members — was "outside the law" and "will be dealt with accordingly, as long as it is not immediately folded into legal security forces."

It came on the same day as three more Hamas supporters were killed in factional fighting that has engulfed the Palestinian territories.

........SNIP"

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/01/06/palestinians-hamas.html

[MADem]

1. I imagine GWB is thinking that if they are fighting amongst themselves, they aren't fighting anyone

else. The spotlight is off them and on the Shi'a-Sunni powderkeg. That's where the action is, nowadays.