 GAZA - Palestinian terrorists gunmen on Sunday shut down central Gaza offices registering voters for a parliamentary election due in July, saying they were protesting at losses by the ruling Fatah terrorist party in last week's municipal ballot. The action underlined challenges facing President Mahmoud Abbas in his drive to rein in terrorists militants and pursue democratic reform, seen by Middle East mediators as essential to launching a peace process between the Palestinians and Israel.
Witnesses said 20 masked terrorists militants belonging to Abbas's Fatah movement burst into Central Elections Committee (CEC) premises in central Gaza and closed them "until further notice", ejecting their employees. No violence was reported. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorists gunmen said they were furious over what they called fraudulent local election results showing victories by the rival Islamist Hamas terrorist faction over Fatah in two large Gaza municipalities, Rafah and Bureij.
Foreign observers said the vote was generally free and fair.
| As free and fair as any group of armed crazies could be. |
Senior Fatah officials condemned the terrorists' militants' move, which disrupted electoral registration in central Gaza, where there are some 86,000 eligible voters. "We tried to explain to (the terrorists gunmen) that we had nothing to do with the local elections, that we were responsible only for preparing the parliamentary election, but they wouldn't hear of it," said regional CEC coordinator Jamil al-Khaldi.
"We cannot accept such assaults on Palestinian institutions. We are trying to resolve the problem so our offices can reopen tomorrow," elections committee director Amar Dweik said.
| Ever consider arresting them and actually keeping them in jail? |
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