Palestinian security chief escapes Gaza car bomb attack

GAZA CITY, Oct 12 (AFP) - A Palestinian security chief related to Yasser Arafat escaped a suspected assassination attempt late Tuesday when a car bomb blew up outside his headquarters in Gaza City, witnesses said.
Musa Arafat, head of general security in the Gaza Strip, was pulling out of the security compound in a convoy when the bomb exploded, injuring one person slightly.
Palestinian sources said they believed the attack was the result of internal battles in the impoverished and lawless Gaza Strip and did not involve Israel, which has been waging a massive deadly onslaught in the area for two weeks.
Musa Arafat was appointed head of the general security service in July, prompting angry outbursts from militants who branded him a symbol of corruption and warned the controversial appointment would lead to "internal conflict".
An Israeli military source denied any involvement, saying the blast "was not related to any IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activity".
The Gaza Strip, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967 along with the West Bank and east Jerusalem, is one of the most densely populated places on earth and has been plagued by rampant lawlessness for several years.
Although there have been several other attempts on the lives of senior Palestinians as a result of internal disputes, it was the first time a car bomb had been used, Palestinian sources said.
Speaking to reporters at a hastily-convened press conference, Arafat said: "I was expecting this assassination attempt" and pointed the finger at "a fifth column which wants to destroy the country".
The blast came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was stepping up efforts to stitch together a new governing coalition after his plans to pull out of Gaza suffered an embarrassing setback in parliament.
Without a new coalition, Sharon may be forced to call snap elections or hold a nationwide referendum on the disengagement plan -- an idea he has previously rejected.
Opponents of the pullout say it will hand a victory to radical Palestinian factions such as Hamas which have been fighting to expel Israel from all the Palestinian territories.
The army's massive operation in northern Gaza, designed to halt the firing of rockets on southern Israel, entered its third week on Tuesday. Some 110 Palestinians have so far been killed in the iron-fisted raid.
Much of the violence has been centered on the Jabaliya refugee camp, where sporadic gunfire and the destruction of housing and orchards continued Tuesday.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was "deeply troubled" by the continuing military action in the northern Gaza Strip, highlighting the high toll of deaths and injuries among the civilian population.
Health NGO Medecins du Monde also lashed at Israel, accusing it of using heavy weaponry against civilians and blocking humanitarian and medical aid reaching the area.
"Most of the wounded suffered serious injury which could lead to handicaps because of the frequent usage by the Israeli army of heavy weapons such as missiles," it said.
Late Monday, deputies in the Israeli parliament voted 53 to 44 against Sharon's speech at the beginnning of the winter parliamentary session which was largely centred on his so-called disengagement plan.
While the vote was largely symbolic, it underscored Sharon's lack of options unless he manages to bring the opposition Labour party into government in order to secure a majority for the plan, which will be put to a parliamentary vote at the end of October.
Labour has given qualified backing for the plan, which will see all 8,000 Jewish settlers evacuated from Gaza by the end of next year, but deputy premier Ehud Olmert said it was high time for the party to join the coalition.
Sharon lost his overall majority in June when traditional allies baulked at his plan, while a sizeable number within his own right-wing Likud party are furious he is pursuing a project that was rejected in a party referendum in May.
During the summer, Sharon held a series of meetings with Labour leader Shimon Peres about joining the coalition, but nothing came of it.
The situation was further complicated after the Likud central committee voted against Labour's inclusion in government.
Another possible scenario for Sharon could see him bring the ultra-Orthodox Shas or United Torah Judaism (UTJ) parties into government.
However, the entry of the Orthadox parties into government could trigger the departure of the avowedly secular Shinui party, the second largest party in the current coalition.
Meanwhile, the army launched an early-warning system designed to alert residents of the southern Israeli town of Sderot about incoming missiles fired from Gaza.
A Hamas rocket attack on the town killed two Israeli toddlers last month, prompting the Gaza raid to be intensified.