American school in Gaza vandalised

Gunmen smashed windows, burned buses and looted computers belonging to a private American school in Gaza before dawn today, an attack officials believed was linked to US President George Bush’s visit to the West Bank earlier this week.

The attack on the American International School in the Gaza Strip’s Beit Layiya, was the second in 48 hours.

On Thursday, just before Bush arrived in the West Bank, gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the school.

Today, gunmen locked the school’s unarmed guard into a room, burned six school buses, and smashed windows and computers, said principal Ribhi Salim. Other computers were stolen.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which left one side of the building scarred with black smoke.

“This is terrorism against education,” Salim said, while inspecting damage.

The school has been repeatedly targeted by vandals in the past for its perceived US link.

The private school in northern Gaza holds classes in English and uses a US-style curriculum but has no ties to the US government.

Ihab Ghussein, a spokesman for the Hamas-led Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip, condemned the attack. He said he believed the attacks were related to Bush’s recent visit.

“Regardless of the reasons – whether to protest, or because of the visit of the American President, this is not a way to express oneself. This is a criminal act,” Ghussein said.