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Independent Online Edition > "Red Cross suspends operations in Gaza after kidnapping
: "Red Cross suspends operations in Gaza after kidnapping
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Published: 10 August 2005
The International Committee of the Red Cross has closed its main office in southern Gaza and suspended field operations throughout the Strip amid lawlessness and a deterioration in internal security.
The move, which includes suspension of the Red Cross programme for families to visit Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, follows the kidnap of three UN workers, including a Briton, in Khan Yunis on Monday.
Armed Palestinian militants abducted one Palestinian and two foreign UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff after dozens of bullets were fired at the Red Cross office in Khan Yunis.
Witnesses said the three were in a blue-flagged UN vehicle when they were intercepted by Palestinian gunmen. The UNRWA workers Christine Blunt, from the UK, Steven Karl from Switzerland and the Palestinian, Rasmi Balousha, were rescued after Palestinian security forces stormed the house where they were being held shortly after the kidnap. Two bystanders were injured as Fatah militants exchanged gunfire with the security forces, but the UNRWA workers were unhurt.
The abduction, the latest in a series mainly targeting foreigners, was widely attributed in Gaza to supporters of Farouk Kaddoumi, the secretary general of the PLO, and an internal opponent of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. Mr Kaddoumi, who lives in Tunis, has set up an office in Gaza with the declared intention of establishing a militia. Palestinian security forces had arrested Suleiman al-Fara, a director of Mr Kaddoumi's office in Khan Yunis and a commander of the Fatah-linked al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
Yesterday, President Abbas used a special meeting of the Palestinian Legislative Cou"
: "Red Cross suspends operations in Gaza after kidnapping
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Published: 10 August 2005
The International Committee of the Red Cross has closed its main office in southern Gaza and suspended field operations throughout the Strip amid lawlessness and a deterioration in internal security.
The move, which includes suspension of the Red Cross programme for families to visit Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, follows the kidnap of three UN workers, including a Briton, in Khan Yunis on Monday.
Armed Palestinian militants abducted one Palestinian and two foreign UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff after dozens of bullets were fired at the Red Cross office in Khan Yunis.
Witnesses said the three were in a blue-flagged UN vehicle when they were intercepted by Palestinian gunmen. The UNRWA workers Christine Blunt, from the UK, Steven Karl from Switzerland and the Palestinian, Rasmi Balousha, were rescued after Palestinian security forces stormed the house where they were being held shortly after the kidnap. Two bystanders were injured as Fatah militants exchanged gunfire with the security forces, but the UNRWA workers were unhurt.
The abduction, the latest in a series mainly targeting foreigners, was widely attributed in Gaza to supporters of Farouk Kaddoumi, the secretary general of the PLO, and an internal opponent of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. Mr Kaddoumi, who lives in Tunis, has set up an office in Gaza with the declared intention of establishing a militia. Palestinian security forces had arrested Suleiman al-Fara, a director of Mr Kaddoumi's office in Khan Yunis and a commander of the Fatah-linked al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
Yesterday, President Abbas used a special meeting of the Palestinian Legislative Cou"
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10:33 PM
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