MIDDLE EAST: HAMAS WARNIG TO PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY (V)

(1 Nov 1998) English/Nat VOICED BY: Justin Kerr-Smiley The Palestinian Authority on Sunday condemned the extremists who made threats of violence against Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian officials. The Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the leaflet distributed by the extremists on Sunday threatened to undermine the authority's rule and would not be tolerated. The military wing of Hamas, Izzedine al Qassem, is thought to be behind the leaflet, which warned that the Palestinian Authority would "never be safe" from Hamas' vengeance. It comes three days after the radical group's spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, was placed under house arrest by Arafat's security forces. VOICE-OVER: 00:00 - Palestinian security forces on high alert. Its a familiar scene, but this time, the threat is coming from a new direction. On Sunday, Hamas accused P-L-O leader Yasser Arafat of treason. And it ordered an end to the crackdown on Hamas militants. In a fax, the group denounced the arrest of Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin. And it accused Arafat of risking civil war. 00:22 SOUNDBITE: (English) "I do not know whether it is authentic or credible. I hope it is not authentic. We have said many times that we in the Palestinian Authority and our Palestinian society are exerting every possible effort to maintain political pluralism. This will be maintained - freedom of expression, human rights of individuals and groups will be maintained, but we will not tolerate authority pluralism under any circumstances. " SUPER CAPTION: Saeb Erekat, Palestinian Chief Negotiator 00:48 The fax - and the threats - are being taken seriously. In recent days, Palestinians have rounded up one-hundred Hamas activists as part of the peace deal with Israel. 00:57 SOUNDBITE: (English) "We have always said to the Palestinian Authority, that if they neglect the war against terrorism, they will learn to rue it and we hope that this prediction is not coming true now." SUPER CAPTION: David Bar Illan, Aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 01:10 - The conflict could stymie peace in the Middle East. But today, David Bar Illan could do little more than repeat calls for a crackdown on terrorism. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...