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Arafat Cracks Down Harder on Dissenters
Thursday, October 11, 2001
By Phil Reeves / Company

"We never thought Palestinian bullets would be directed at us. Most of the people injured were shot in the head. The aim was to kill -- and it was done to satisfy the U.S."

JERUSALEM -- Source
Yasser Arafat mobilised all his security strength yesterday to stop the Gaza Strip from exploding into internal conflict, detonated by the United States-led strikes on Afghanistan and the killing of Palestinian protesters by their own policemen.

Thousands of armed police flooded the streets and foreign correspondents were banned for the second day from entering the strip, which was simmering with fury after police shot dead three demonstrators, including a 12-year-old boy, on Tuesday.

Arafat has resorted to dictatorial methods to quell the instability in Gaza, which blew wide open the long-standing rift between his rule - with its many uneasy links with Israel -- and the radical Islamic nationalists who command strong support on the streets.
(More: The New Zealand Herald News Source)
2001 © New Zealand Herald

Dan