Hamas Enforcer Rails Against U.S. Gov't

Jamal Abu Samhadana, 43, leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, talks during an interview with Associated Press in Rafah, Monday, May 29, 2006. In a back alley interview Samhadana, the top Hamas enforcer in the Gaza Strip railed against the U.S. government, said he's happy whenever American soldiers are killed and vowed not to take Hamas' 3,000-strong militia off the streets. (AP Photo/Yakoub Galowa) (Yakoub Galowa - AP)

In the interview, Abu Samhadana accused Israel and the U.S. of fomenting unrest among the Palestinians, but predicted new talks among the Palestinian factions would succeed in calming the situation.

"We are certain that there are American and Israeli plans to provoke a civil war here like what is happening in Iraq," he said.

After Hamas' victory in Jan. 25 legislative elections, the moderate Abbas _ who was elected separately _ moved to take control of most of the Palestinian security forces. In response, Hamas deployed its 3,000-strong militia, whose rifle-toting black-clad members guard streets throughout Gaza, at times staring down Fatah rivals on opposite corners.

Abu Samhadana said the force, which Fatah activists refer to as the "black militia," will remain in place despite criticism by Hamas' detractors that it's a major source of friction and instability.

Unlike Fatah-led forces, which have occasionally acceded to Israeli and international demands to crack down on militants, the Hamas force will not move to prevent attacks against Israel unless the Jewish state withdraws from all land it captured in the 1967 Mideast War, Abu Samhadana said.

"The previous government's first mission was to protect Israel and not protect the Palestinian people. Through my work in this government, I will protect my people," he said, adding that a top policy goal is to move against Palestinians who collaborate with Israel.

Abu Samhadana graduated from a military school in then-communist East Germany in 1988. He was loyal to Fatah and Yasser Arafat for many years, but was later expelled from Fatah.

Abu Samhadana formed the Popular Resistance Committees, a violent group consisting of militants from various factions, after the latest Palestinian uprising broke out in 2000.

He said this background puts him in a position to help bridge the differences between the battling sides. At the same time, however, he blasted two senior Fatah security chiefs, saying they "are supported by America, implementing an American agenda and not a Palestinian agenda."