Palestinian protesters, police engage in deadly battle

P Osama bin Laden issued a call Sunday for Muslims to support the Palestinian cause.

The Associated Press

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- In the worst internal Palestinian fighting in years, protesters opposed to U.S. airstrikes on Afghanistan waged a running gunbattle Monday with police at the Islamic University in Gaza City, leaving two bystanders dead and 50 people injured.

The bloodshed focused attention on the increasing friction between Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority and militant Palestinian groups such as Hamas, the movement supported by the protesters.

Arafat's government has sought to distance itself from suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden and has demanded that militants observe a cease-fire reached with Israel on Sept. 26. Arafat's security forces have detained several suspected militants in recent days.

Hamas claimed responsibility for an attack on a Jewish settlement last week and is opposed to the U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan. Some Hamas supporters carried pictures of bin Laden at Monday's protest.

1,000 students

With tensions rising, bin Laden issued a call for Muslims to support the Palestinian cause in a video released Sunday as U.S. airstrikes began in Afghanistan. Bin Laden said "neither America nor the people who live in it will dream of security before we live it in Palestine."

At Monday's protest, more than 1,000 students from Islamic University marched toward the center of Gaza City, but were blocked by Palestinian police, who fired tear gas, beat students with batons and fired live rounds into the air.

"Long live Palestine, long live Afghanistan, long live Islam," the students chanted. A few chanted, "Bin Laden, bin Laden."

Police eventually drove the students back to the university. Security forces chased away journalists and told them not to report on the demonstration, part of an ongoing effort to prevent reporting about rallies that support for bin Laden.

But back at the university, dozens of protesters continued to battle in the surrounding streets, throwing stones, firebombs and occasionally firing guns, witnesses said.

While the protesters burned tires in the streets, police fired continuously into the air and occasionally at gunmen, witnesses said. Clashes broke out in several locations on the fringes of the school, a hotbed of support for Hamas.

Palestinian police commander Ghazi Jabali said Monday's demonstration was illegal because it was not coordinated with authorities. "Palestinian police are not going to allow these groups to violate Palestinian law and to harm the Palestinian national unity," Jabali said.

The two dead -- a 13-year-old boy and a 21-year-old student -- were bystanders killed by fire coming from masked men inside the university, according to Jabali. He said the gunmen at the university were not believed to be students.

However, the Palestinian Committee for Human Rights said its monitors observed the clashes and did not witness shots being fired from the campus. The group blamed Palestinian police for the deaths, saying they used "excessive force."

A third Palestinian was shot in the head and was on life support, sources said. At least 50 people were injured, including 15 policemen.

Reaction questioned

The human rights group Amnesty International said the Palestinian police reaction to the demonstrations constituted "reckless and unlawful use of lethal force" against protesters. "Firearms should only be used to counter an imminent threat to life and only when non-lethal means have been exhausted," the London-based group said, and called for a full investigation of the killings.

Police closed the Islamic University and neighboring Al Azhar University for a week in an attempt to head off additional confrontations.

Palestinian leaders have said demonstrations expressing support for bin Laden represent a minority view, and should not receive prominent attention. The security forces have repeatedly tried to prevent journalists from reporting on these protests.

Palestinian authorities on Monday blocked a BBC television correspondent from entering Gaza. Also, a BBC radio correspondent in the West Bank city of Ramallah had tape confiscated by Palestinian authorities, the BBC said.