JERUSALEM, April 30 (UPI) -- Palestinian Authority officials are putting strict security measures in place after reports that al-Qaida is planning to kill top Fatah party leaders.
The villa of PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah has been completely cordoned off, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The newspaper said a group calling itself al-Tawhid and Jihad (Unification and Holy War) distributed leaflets in the Gaza Strip threatening to kill a number of senior officials in the Fatah party.
It is the first time that the group believed to be headed by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has issued a leaflet in Gaza, the Post reported.
Five Abbas loyalists were named as targets: Muhammad Dahlan, Yasser Abed Rabbo, Samir Mashharawi, Nabil Amr and Abu Ali Shaheen.
"They are seeking to spread confusion," said Dahlan, who has been accused by Hamas of spearheading a U.S.-led conspiracy to bring down the new Hamas cabinet. "We are taking these threats very seriously and we even know the identity of those behind them."
