Before dawn, on Wednesday 7, a number of undercover gunmen attacked Moussa Arafat?s house, injuring his body guards, shooting him dead and kidnapping his eldest son. Doctors from al-Quds hospital in Gaza announced Arafat?s death.

Moussa Arafat, a cousin of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was one of the founders of the Fatah movement. Arafat, since his appointment as the chief of military intelligence in the 1990?s, was a controversial and ruthless figure within many Palestinian groups, particularly following his crackdown on the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad resistance movements in 1996.  

Moussa Arafat was under threat for many years and he had survived two previous assassination attempts.

After Mahmoud Abbas was elected, he commenced a comprehensive reform. Part of this reform was institute enforced retirement of all the police and security leaders over the age of 60, including Moussa Arafat. Eventually, however, Abbas appointed Arafat as a security consultant.
Until now the identity of the assassins is still unknown. However, many Palestinian stated that ?this event indicates what Gaza will be like after its complete delivery to the Palestinian Authority.?

Arafat?s family however prevented other Palestinian officials from joining the funeral march by Arafat loyalists -- who accuse the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) of failing to act against the killers, amid self-criticism by the PNA officials.

Following the killing and kidnapping, Abbas cancelled a planned trip to the United Nations this month, where he was to attend the General Assembly meetings with other world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and was scheduled to meet with the US, UK and Russian leaders.

Shortly after his captives released him, Mahal Arafat accused ?foreign fingers? of trying to affect and impose things on the Palestinian politics, which stand behind the killing of his father, Palestinian sources reported on Friday.

Manhal, 29, a Military Intelligence officer, was kidnapped immediately after some 80 masked gunmen in 20 cars assassinated the founder of Palestinian military intelligence and presidential military adviser major-general Mousa Arafat, born in 1936, in a 30-minute battle in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of southern Gaza City on Wednesday.

Following his release, Manhal issued a statement given to the press accusing some Palestinians, although no names were mentioned, of ?conducting an ?armed robbery?? in his father?s house as the attackers believed that there were weapons and ammunition, ?as gossiped by some Palestinians who are interested to disturb stability in the Palestinian areas,? he said.

The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), who first claimed responsibility for assassinating Arafat, denied their responsibility later and accused PNA officials of his murder.

Founder of the Palestinian National Initiative and a former presidential candidate Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi criticized the lawlessness in the Palestinian territories, noting the disturbing fact that 90 percent of security violations in Palestine are committed by security forces and intelligence.

?The forces must be disciplined, and the rule of law and an independent judiciary must be installed,? he was quoted as saying by *http://www.aljazeerah.info on Thursday.

In self-criticism, Deputy Prime Minister and Information Minister Nabil Shaath suggested that Arafat?s assassination was timed to raise doubts about the PNA?s ability to maintain order in Gaza after Israel's withdrawal of troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip.

?We are saying that we can take responsibility,? Shaath told reporters in Gaza. ?We will take all the steps necessary, and I don't think there is any doubt in anyone's mind: This is not political resistance to the occupation. This is a crime by any definition -- no justifications, no pretext.?

Similarly Abdullah Frangi, head of the ruling Fatah Mobilization Department, told reporters: ?This is a very dangerous incident and has very dangerous implications inside Palestine.?

Following Moussa Arafat's death, the PNA held an emergency session to discuss deteriorating security conditions in the Strip. A statement issued later condemned the killing, describing it as ?an attack on the Palestinian government and polity.?

The statement vowed to apprehend and punish the perpetrators, adding that the killing of Arafat would strengthen Palestinian resolve to uphold the rule of law and put an end to chaos and lawlessness permeating throughout the Strip and to lesser extent in the West Bank.