Palestinian intelligence chief shot in Gaza

Brigadier-General Tareq Abu Rajab was acting boss of the General Intelligence Service since its head resigned last month amid unprecedented Palestinian unrest over demands for anti-corruption reform.

Rajab, 58, was close to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, but was not widely seen as taking sides in a power struggle that pits younger leaders -- who say they want change -- against an old guard accused of graft and failing to win a state.

The tussle for control has been triggered by Israel's plan to withdraw troops and settlers next year from the territory it has occupied since the 1967 war.

Gunmen fired from two moving cars as Abu Rajab drove to his office in Gaza City, security sources said. Then they peeled off in different directions in what looked like a carefully plotted attack.

Two of Abu Rajab's bodyguards were killed and another wounded. Medics said the commander was in serious condition and undergoing surgery.

"It's a sinful crime and it is condemned by everybody. We are confident that the criminals will not escape punishment," Rashid Abu Shbak, head of internal security in the Gaza Strip, told Reuters after visiting Abu Rajab in hospital.

"The Palestinian Authority must carry out decisive procedures to stop the security deterioration, which has started to harm Palestinian leaders."

AFP adds: A parliamentary commission was set to urge a wholesale reshuffle of Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei's government at a session focusing on demands for reform, deputies said.

The much-anticipated session of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) had been postponed for a day as veteran leader Yasser Arafat apparently stalled on demands by deputies to transform recent pledges to address "unacceptable mistakes" into action.

Deputies in particular want Arafat to order probes into allegations of corruption and clearly lay down the division of powers in the multifarious security apparatus which Arafat is supposed to have streamlined.

Qorei submitted his resignation to Arafat last month after an unprecedented spate of kidnappings. He later retracted after mediation efforts involving senior deputies.

Deputies passed a resolution last month urging Arafat to accept Qorei's resignation offer.

Qorei is expected to reshuffle his cabinet team in the next few weeks, having been given the green light for a shake-up from Arafat himself.