THE Egyptian government is trying to secure the rapid release of a diplomat, who was kidnapped yesterday in Gaza Strip, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Cairo. "The Egyptian authorities are following closely, and in coordination with the Palestinian side, the kidnapping of Egyptian diplomat Hossam Musseli, in order to determine its circumstances and secure his release quickly,'' the statement, carried by the Middle East News Agency (MENA), said. Musseli is an adviser at the Egyptian embassy in Gaza, MENA said. Three masked gunmen in a car opened on Musseli's vehicle and forced him to get into their car, eye witnesses told MENA correspondent in Gaza. The motive for the abduction of Musseli was not clear and no one immediately claimed responsibility. In a statement, President Mahmoud Abbas said the kidnappers had broken ranks with the Palestinian people and that he would not allow anyone to harm good relations with Egypt, which twice helped broker a truce between activists and Israel. Gaza borders Egypt. Witnesses told Reuters that gunmen shot out a tyre of the car in which Musseli was travelling and put another bullet in its fender, forcing it to stop. They then dragged him to their vehicle and sped away. Gaza has seen a rash of kidnappings since Israel's pullout in September, but foreigners seized by activists with grudges against the Palestinian Authority have been released quickly. "We strongly reject this act," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie said. "What is left when an Egyptian brother, who is here to help us, is kidnapped? Strict orders have been issued to the security services to search for him." All Palestinian factions say they have good relations with Egypt. Hamas leaders from the Palestinian territories and those in exile held talks in Cairo on Wednesday on establishing a new government following the Islamic resistance group's crushing victory over the long-dominant Fatah in a Jan 25 election. It was not known whether Musseli's kidnap was linked to those talks. A power struggle among factions, gangs and security forces has intensified in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank since the Israeli withdrawal. In Gaza City, about 100 gunmen from the Popular Army of Fatah blocked a government compound to demand payment of salaries due for work guarding greenhouses in evacuated Jewish settlements. Dozens of armed activists from the Fatah-affiliated al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, gunmen who also serve in Palestinian security forces, mounted a similar protest at the Interior Ministry in the West Bank city of Hebron. Qurie told a meeting of the Palestinian cabinet in the West Bank city of Ramallah that wages were paid yesterday to Palestinian Authority employees. Israel agreed on Sunday to hand over to the Palestinians tax revenues it froze after Hamas' election win, but said it would no longer make automatic monthly transfers Ń a threat to cut off the money if the activist group dedicated to its destruction comes to power. At the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel, Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinian gunmen who threw hand grenades and opened fire at troops, an army spokeswoman said in Tel Aviv. In a separate incident near Erez, Israeli soldiers fired at two Palestinians who appeared to have been planting a bomb, the spokeswoman said. Palestinian medics said a Palestinian farmer was killed.
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