Infighting Clouds Upcoming Palestinian Leadership Gathering

[Mosby]

Hatem Abu Riziq used to prowl the narrow alleyways of the West Bank's largest refugee camp battling the Israeli army. But these days he is turning his gun's barrel toward the Palestinian leadership.

With the long-ruling Palestinian Fatah faction torn by rivalries, fierce shootouts between Palestinian security forces and Fatah-aligned gunmen have erupted in recent months, plunging the Balata camp into unrest and lawlessness.

The violence, much of it directed at a Fatah leadership seen as corrupt and out of touch, comes as the movement prepares to hold an overdue leadership conference at the end of the month and reflects a combustible power struggle between the faction's aging leader, President Mahmoud Abbas, and exiled rival Mohammed Dahlan, a former top aide who has the backing of some gunmen and disaffected Fatah activists.

"I no longer want to fight Israel. I'm not willing to die for these officials who are only taking care of their families and letting us suffer," said Abu Riziq, 30, who spent nearly seven years in an Israeli prison for assisting in a suicide bombing.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/infighting-clouds-upcoming-palestinian-leadership-gathering-43668219