Hamas considering response after MP barred from mosque
Published today (updated) 28/08/2010 20:12
www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=311275

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas officials said Friday it was considering its
response to what it described as assaults against leaders by Palestinian
Authority security forces in the West Bank.

Salah Bardawil told Ma'an that leaders would determine how to exert pressure
on the PA to bring an end to intimidation against affiliates in the West
Bank. The outcry followed the report of Hamas-affiliated lawmaker Nayef
Ar-Rajoub, who said he was bared from delivering his Friday sermon in a
mosque south of Hebron.

The official said 10 other Hamas supporters were detained following the
incident, which he said was "greater than political disagreement."

"PA security services in the West Bank treat Hamas lawmakers and dignitaries
rudely," he said, noting that Ar-Rajoub was an elected official in the
Palestinian Legislative Council.

Bardawil also spoke of what he described as "the phenomenon of assaulting
mosques and imams," in the West Bank, which he said was "dangerous and
unprecedented," and could place the future of Palestinians in danger.

In mid-July, Gaza premier Ismail Haniyeh accused the PA of "waging a war
against Islam," after a prominent Hamas-affiliated sheikh was banned from
making Friday sermons in the West Bank.

The PA denied the accusations, accusing the Islamist party of being "clearly
hostile."