Hamas denies plot to target PA brass

JERUSALEM, July 3 (UPI) -- A Hamas spokesman denied recent media reports of plans to target Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other key Palestinian leaders.

A report by the Ma'an News Agency said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza , denied recent reports in the Palestinian media suggesting Hamas was plotting to target key Palestinian Authority officials, possibly for ongoing arrests of Hamas operatives in the West Bank.

Zuhri accused the Palestinian Authority of resorting to "blackmail and threats" and "torturing our affiliates to get information."

Ma'an said Abbas had been quoted in the local media saying his security forces had uncovered evidence of a Hamas cell operating in the West Bank in preparation for the attacks. Abbas reportedly said the Palestinian Authority will expose those involved in the affair "when the time is right."

Quoting a recent interview with a Russian television station, the news agency quoted Abbas as saying his security forces had uncovered two tons of explosives belonging to Hamas and had evidence Hamas operatives were stockpiling weapons, including rocket propelled grenade launchers and Presidential Guards uniforms.