Gunmen execute former Palestinian security chief

ABOUT 100 masked militants stormed the heavily guarded home of Gaza’s former security chief early yesterday, dragged him out in his pyjamas and killed him in a burst of gunfire — a brazen challenge to the Palestinian Authority days before Israel was to hand over Gaza.

Moussa Arafat, a 65-year-old cousin of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was killed after a 30-minute gunbattle between the assailants and dozens of bodyguards.

The fighting with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles raged just a block from the headquarters of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service.