GAZA CITY (AFP) - Two members of the Palestinian security services were killed in a shooting incident as PLO leader Mahmud Abbas visited a mourning tent at late leader Yasser Arafat`s Gaza City headquarters, medical sources said.
Four other people were wounded in the incident although Abbas himself, surrounded by aides and guards, was unharmed, the sources added.
Abbas had just arrived at the Muntada base to receive condolences for Arafat who died in hospital on the outskirts of Paris on Thursday.
Medical sources named the two victims as Kamal Abu Khenief, a member of Arafat`s elite Force 17 unit and Rawad Darwish, a member of the preventive security service.
Witnesses said that more than a thousand people, many of whom were armed, were in the tent at the time of the shooting. The gunfire triggered scenes of panic as people fled the scene.
It was not immediately clear if Abbas, who is favourite to succeed Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority, was the target of the gunmen.
Other witnesses said that the powerful former security minister Mohammed Dahlan, who served under Abbas when he was prime minister last year, was also with Abbas at the time.
Abbas had travelled to Gaza City after a series of political meetings in the West Bank designed to ensure a smooth transition of power.
There have been widespread fears that Arafat`s death could trigger an outbreak of lawlessness, especially in Gaza which has been the scene of several deadly clashes between security services and armed factions in recent months.
Gaza is the stronghold of the Islamist movement Hamas which fiercely resisted efforts by Abbas and Dahlan last year to implement a disarmament programme.
11/14/2004 - 16:53 GMT - AFP