Arafat aide killed in 'dirty assassination'

Gunmen killed an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in a street ambush early today, feeding fears of growing lawlessness and chaos ahead of a possible Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Arafat denounced the killing of Khalil al-Zaben, 59, as a “dirty assassination” and convened his Cabinet and national security council today to discuss what was seen as one of the most serious challenges yet to the Palestinian Authority.