Hamas said Friday it had arrested a political advisor of the Palestinian premier, whose government was appointed after the Islamists seized control of the Gaza Strip. "Interior ministry security forces arrested Omar al-Ghul. An investigation has begun into a case against the law," said Hamas spokesman Ihab al-Ghssein.
Ghul, 56, was picked up from his Gaza City home after "a decision was taken (by Hamas) to open an investigation," Ghssein said. President Mahmud Abbas condemned the arrest from Jordan, where he was en route to an international donors' conference in Paris on Monday, three weeks after Israel and the Palestinians resumed peace talks in the United States.
In comments relayed by aide Yasser Abed Rabbo, Abbas criticised the "kidnapping" as a "criminal and dangerous act adding to the long list of crimes committed daily by Hamas in the Gaza Strip".