Fatah-linked radio studios attacked and destroyed

Reporters Without Borders has strongly condemned an attack on the studios of a local radio linked to Fatah in the Gaza Strip in which its offices were wrecked, its sole transmitter destroyed and the building torched. Armed men burst into the studios of Al ommal radio run by the worker's union linked to the party of President Mahmud Abbas on 12 October 2006. After throwing a grenade into the entrance of the studios in the Ibad Al Rahman district in the north of Gaza, they ordered all its journalists out of the building. They then attacked the guards before ransacking the offices, destroying the transmitter and setting fire to five floors of the building. “We urge the authorities to open an investigation into this appalling act of violence. Since members of Hamas are suspected of involvement, we call on Ismael Haniyeh, Prime Minister and leader of the party, to strongly condemn this attack and to expel those responsible from its ranks,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said. "In addition, inter-Palestinian violence is today the main threat to freedom of expression. A national radio controlled by the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, was attacked on June 2006. Local and foreign journalists need to have their safety guaranteed to work in the Territories,” said the organisation. The radio station's head, Razk Al Biyari, said he believed that the attack had been carried out by people linked to the Hamas movement. Elsewhere two other radio stations, Al Shabab and Al Hurriya, both also close to Fatah, received telephoned threats last week.