Al-Zahar of Hamas defends his ruling partys actions in Gaza

Tuesday July 29, 2008 14:52 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

Senior Hamas leader, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, stated on Tuesday that the latest Hamas
governments actions across the Gaza Strip have been a response to a national and civil necessity.

Hamas Senior Leader, Mahmoud Alzahar

"Hamas should administer all civil and military institutions in Gaza, given the fact Hamas is a democratically-elected government. Those who have claimed that Hamas carried out a coup against legitimacy are merely liars", Zahar was quoted as saying en-route to Cairo.

A Hamas delegation, made up of Alzahar, Jamal Abu Hashem and exiled Hamas' political bureau deputy-chief, Mousa Abu Marzouq, headed for Cairo on Tuesday morning, in route to talks about the status of the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel.

Al-Zahar confirmed that the delegation will not be meeting with any Fatah officials, saying that the visit to Cairo is intended at tackling implementation of the ceasefire deal. These recent developments mark the 40th day since the deal was concluded.

"the meeting will be dealing with the ceasefire's profiles, such as the Rafah crossing terminal and the case of captured soldier Gil'ad Shalit", he explained.

Alzahar further defended recent Hamas government crackdown on the Fatah supporters and various community-based institutions in the Gaza Strip.

"when a sports club gathers people to prepare explosive devices, this club becomes unprofessional, therefore, it should be closed in compliance with the national and civil interests", he pointed out.

Over the weekend, the Hamas-led government in Gaza rounded up hundreds of Fatah supporters in Gaza and ordered the closure of dozens of community-based NGO's in the Strip. It also banned delivery of the three main local newspapers until a further notice.

These actions came in response to a deadly attack last Friday, in which three Hamas fighters were killed.

Fatah rebuffed Hamas's accusations as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah kicked off a national dialogue with Hamas but Hamas downplayed it as a 'maneuver'.

The Islamic Hamas party, which won 2006's parliamentary elections, took over Gaza in June 2007, after ejecting Fatah-loyal security forces amidst internecine fighting with the secular Fatah party

gaza strip | palestinian politics | news report rami at imemc dot org