MIDDLE EAST: Hamas is demanding the return of €640,000 confiscated from one of its senior officials trying to smuggle it into the Gaza Strip yesterday.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas ordered a criminal investigation after EU monitors at the Rafah border crossing discovered the money hidden in a belt worn by Sami Abu Zuhari, a Hamas spokesman, when he dropped it. The cash was handed to Palestinian customs officers under the authority of Mr Abbas.
About 100 armed Hamas men laid siege to the border crossing to demand the return of the money, but later withdrew. Mr Zuhari, who was returning from Qatar, said the cash came from donations made by Arab countries to help Palestinian prisoners after foreign aid was cut off following the Hamas election victory.
The standoff added to growing tensions in the territory after Hamas deployed its own security forces on the streets of Gaza this week in defiance of Mr Abbas. The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, warned that the move has created a "dangerous situation" that the Palestinian president must resolve.
Ms Rice said Mr Abbas has frequently spoken of the need for "one authority and one gun" and therefore he should not accept Hamas using 3,000 of its own armed men to police the streets. "It's a very tense situation and one that we hope will be resolved. We obviously believe that President Abbas, who we believe has the confidence of the Palestinian people, should be able to exercise his responsibilities as president of the country," she said.
But the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, said the force would remain. "We do not intend to make one step backward. The force will stay. Their task is to protect internal security and if there will be a need to increase its number, we will do it," he said yesterday.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials announced that prime minister Ehud Olmert's top two deputies would hold talks with Mr Abbas tomorrow in the highest-level contact since Hamas swept to power in January, officials said.
The meeting, at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Egypt, will come on the eve of Mr Olmert's first trip to the US, where he hopes to win President Bush's support for setting Israel's border in parts of the occupied West Bank.
The office of foreign minister Tzipi Livni said yesterday that she and vice-premier Shimon Peres would hold a 30-minute meeting with Mr Abbas and senior aide Saeb Erekat.
Mr Erekat, who announced the talks on Thursday, said they would centre on reviving peace negotiations and freeing up Palestinian tax levies frozen by Israel.
"We will discuss ways of resuming the peace process," Mr Erekat said.
"We will also focus on the seizure of our money. It's our money and they should release it as soon as possible."