WRAP Reax to Friday shootout ADDS gunbattle, militant cleric killed

(15 Aug 2009)
Rafah, southern Gaza strip, 15 August 2009
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Wide of mosque, gun battle between Hamas and Islamic militants, occasional flares and flashes seen, AUDIO: Heavy gunfire
Rafah, southern Gaza strip, 14 August 2009
++ DUSK SHOT ++
2. Wide of explosion in a house in area of gun battle, smoke rising from house as explosion heard
Rafah, southern Gaza strip, 15 August 2009
++NIGHT SHOT++
3. Wide of mosque where gun battle between Hamas and Islamic militants took place, many flares and flashes from fire exchange seen, AUDIO: Heavy gunfire including machine gun fire
Rafah, southern Gaza strip, 15 August 2009
++ DAWN SHOT++
4. Wide of mosque where gun battle occurred overnight, AUDIO: Gunfire
Rafah, southern Gaza strip, 14 August 2009
5. Wide shot of leader of "Jund Ansar Allah" (means: Soldiers of the Companions of God) Abdel-Latif Moussa surrounded by the organisation's militants inside mosque just before fighting erupted
6. Medium of leader Abdel-Latif Moussa with militants
7. Pan of the followers to Abdel-Latif Moussa
Rafah, southern Gaza strip, 15 August 2009
8. Wide of flag at Rafah border crossing
9. Hamas policemen at terminal
Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 15 August 2009
10. Setup shot of Ihab Hussien, spokesman for Hamas interior ministry
11. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ihab Hussien, spokesman for Hamas interior ministry
"The operation is over in Rafah, the death of their leader Abdel-Latif Moussa is confirmed. What is going on right now is searching and clearing the area. Right now the area of Rafah is a closed military zone until we make sure everything is back to normal, unfortunately there are many civilian victims of this incident, and we hope that such events won't happen again."
Ramallah, West Bank, 15 August 2009
12. Saeb Erekat, Palestinian negotiator, arriving getting out of car
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Saeb Erekat, Palestinian negotiator:
"Its very alarming and very dangerous what is taking place in Gaza, these clashes and these fights, more than 22 dead. Gaza is going down the drain in chaos and lawlessness."
14. Erekat getting into car
STORYLINE:
The leader of a militant group in the Gaza Strip blew himself up during a shootout on Saturday with security forces that killed 24 people.
The fighting erupted on Friday when Hamas security men surrounded a mosque in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on the Egypt border where about 100 members of Jund Ansar Allah, or the Soldiers of the Companions of God, were holed up.
Palestinian officials said a total of 24 people, including six Hamas police officers and an 11-year-old girl, were killed in the violence that also wounded 150.
Flares lit up the sky overnight as Hamas machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenades slammed into the mosque.
A Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman told The Associated Press the head of the radical Islamic group, Abdel-Latif Moussa, was killed when fighting resumed after dawn Saturday.
He said Moussa detonated an explosives vest he was wearing during the fighting.
He said the fighting ended later in the morning.
The fighting appeared to confirm Hamas' ironclad rule in Gaza despite a punishing Israeli and Egyptian-led blockade that keeps all but basic humanitarian supplies from entering the impoverished seaside territory.
It also underscored the group's determination not to allow opponents with differing ideologies to gain a foothold in Gaza.
Jund Ansar Allah claims inspiration from al-Qaida's ultraconservative brand of Islam but no direct links have been confirmed.
"Gaza is going down the drain in chaos and lawlessness," he told the AP.

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