Fatah and Hamas meet after overnight violence
(13 Jun 2006) SHOTLIST 1. Exterior shot of Palestinian Legislative Council building 2. PLC members walking into building 3. PLC members talking 4. Various of destruction of offices inside PLC building 5.SOUNDBITE (English) Aziz Dweik, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council : "These people have committed a heinous crime against the legality and the legal system in this society and against the Palestinian Legislative Council. This is an action that would never benefit those who committed it because all the world, all the time, condemn such an action against the Legislative Council as the Palestinian Parliament, which must work all the time, without any kind of hindrance." 6. Speaker of the PLC Aziz Dweik sitting in meeting between Hamas and Fatah 7. Exterior shot of Palestinian Prime Minister's office in Ramallah 8. Exterior shot of Palestinian Prime Minister's office 9. Guards standing at entrance to Prime Minister's office 10. Broken office equipment on ground 11. Destroyed computer on ground 12. Broken glass on ground 13. Various of destruction STORYLINE Members of the Fatah and Hamas groups met in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, trying to reconcile their differences after a violent night in which a Hamas member was killed in southern Gaza and offices of the Prime Minister and the Palestinian Legislative Council were vandalised in Ramallah. Hundreds of Palestinian security men loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas went on a rampage against the Hamas-led government on Monday, riddling the parliament building and Cabinet offices in Ramallah, in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip. Broken glass from the shattered windows and destroyed office equipment was scattered on the ground at the Prime Minster's office in Ramallah and at the Palestinian Legislative Council building in Ramallah on Tuesday morning. The Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, on Tuesday condemned the attack, calling it a "heinous crime against the legal system and against the Palestinian Legislative Council." The violence was the most serious in the West Bank since Hamas defeated Abbas' Fatah movement in legislative elections in January and raised new fears the Palestinians could be headed toward civil war. It also cast doubt on renewed calls for Palestinian unity by the rival factions. Abbas, a moderate who was elected separately last year, has been locked in a bitter power struggle with Hamas. The dispute has focused largely on control of the powerful security forces. In Monday's unrest, hundreds of members of the Preventive Security force shot out the windows of the parliament building before storming the two-building Cabinet complex, where they smashed furniture, destroyed computers and tore up documents. No casualties were reported. Shooting wildly in the air, the group then set fire to one of the Cabinet buildings, gutting the fourth floor. When a fire engine approached the scene, one gunman lay on the road, preventing it from reaching the building. The crowd also set fire to the parliament building and a Hamas office. Both blazes were quickly contained. Abbas' presidential guard later arrived to guard the burnt-out parliament and Cabinet buildings. 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...
