Palestinian House stormed for non-payment of salaries

Palestinian government employees, one holding up a portrait of Marwan Barghuti, storm the Hamas-dominated parliament building in Ramallah yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

The demonstrators burst into the Palestinian Legislative Council chamber, which was in session at the time, forcing speaker Aziz al-Dweik to pronounce a halt to proceedings.

Some protestors ripped up documents on MPs' benches while others brawled with elected deputies in the parliament, which has been dominated by members of the ruling Hamas faction since last January's election.

Various MPs jumped up calling for calm and demanding that the interlopers leave the chamber.

Many of the protestors appeared to be supporters of president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah faction which was thrashed by Hamas in January's vote.

Some could be seen holding up a portrait of Marwan Barghuti, the leader of Fatah who is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison after being convicted over the death of several civilians.

The vast majority of civil servants have not been paid since February owing to a serious financial crisis following Western aid cuts to the Palestinian Authority since Hamas formed a government.

Friction between Hamas and Fatah has been steadily growing in recent days.

Followers of Abbas's faction set fire to the parliament late Monday after earlier torching part of the building housing the cabinet offices in Ramallah. Both fires were soon brought under control without causing extensive damage.

After Wednesday's storming of the parliament, the leader of Hamas's parliamentary faction accused Abbas of orchestrating the chaos and of contributing to the "siege" on the Hamas government.

"We are astonished to see the president say that he wants the prime minister to act as his right-hand man and then he imposes a siege on us," said Salah al-Bardawil who was taking part in the sessionadded Bardawil.

The parliament protest came as Abbas and Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya held the latest in a series of meetings in a bid to resolve the disputes between the two sides.

Hamas has accused Abbas of trying to engineer a coupthe face of Hamas's commitment to the Jewish state's destruction.

The two sides have been at loggerheads over a range of issues, in particular control of the security services, and have been involved in a number of deadly clashes.