Fatah’s men are having trouble coping with the heavy loss and hence venting their anger in any direction.
**Fatah gunmen storm parliament **
Agencies
Saturday January 28, 2006
Fatah gunmen stormed Palestinian parliament buildings in Ramallah today and demanded the party leadership resign following a crushing election defeat by Hamas.
“No partnership with Hamas,” gunmen chanted as they fired in the air.
They took over the parliament building for about 20 minutes, shouting demands from the roof before descending peacefully.
Hundreds of activists then entered the compound of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to pray at the grave of the late Yasser Arafat, although they did not specifically demand that Abbas step down.
The group, which included several gunmen, were allowed into the compound by guards and proceeded toward Arafat’s tomb. Abbas’s security force formed a cordon around the activists to prevent them from approaching the nearby building that holds the Palestinian leader’s office.
Outside the compound, some of the militants shot in the air and chanted: “We came to you Abu Amar to forgive us for what happened.” Abu Amar was Arafat’s nickname.
Jibril Rajoub, Abbas’s national security adviser who was among the protesters, warned Hamas not to tamper with the security forces.
“The security forces will stay. Hamas has no power meddling with the security forces,” he said.
Thousands of Fatah activists held protest marches across the West Bank. In Wednesday’s parliament vote, Hamas captured 76 of 132 seats in the legislature.