Lecturer Killed in Mystery Gaza Blast

28/11/2004| IslamWeb

A Palestinian lecturer was killed yesterday in a mystery explosion at his university office in Gaza City, as five children were wounded by Israeli fire, Palestinian sources said. The blast took place in the office of 27-year-old Yasser Al Madhun, who died on the spot. He worked as a lecturer at Gaza City's Al Azhar university. In the northern West Bank, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy was left seriously wounded after being shot four times in clashes with Israeli soldiers. In the southern Gaza Strip, four other children were left with bullet wounds after Israeli soldiers opened fire in the Rafah refugee camp. Meanwhile, Palestinian officials disbanded a Gaza security force feared by civilians and under fire by human rights groups in one of the first concrete steps toward security reform in months. The dominant Fatah movement, also carrying out reforms after the death of Palestinian president Yasser Arafat, said it was trying to unify militant groups operating under its banner in a single command to halt factional infighting and centralise decision-making. Rashid Abu Shbak, a senior Gaza security official, said the 70 members of the Department of Protection and Security, a force known by ordinary Gazans as the "Death Squad", had been re-assigned. New PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas yesterday emerged as the clear frontrunner to replace Arafat after jailed West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi vowed not to run in January's presidential election. However, a Palestinian democracy activist who has campaigned for non-violent resistance to Israeli occupation said he would run for president. Mustafa Barghouthi, a physician educated in Russia and the US, will Abbas. Barghouthi is not closely related. Marwan Barghouthi. Also yesterday, Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie arrived in Cairo last night ahead of talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The three will today also discuss preparations for the Palestinian presidential election. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Palestinians carry the body of Aamer Banat during his funeral in the West Bank city of Nablus, November 21, 2004. (REUTERS)