New Fatah leader in Gaza denounces Hamas

     Special report: Internal situation in Palestine 

    GAZA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Zakariya al-Agha, the new Gaza Fatah chief appointed by President Mahmoud Abbas, appeared for the first time in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Wednesday and condemned the Islamic Hamas movement's recent ruthless actions.

    Al-Agha said that latest Hamas actions against Fatah supporters and partisans in the Gaza Strip last month were "more brutal than what Israel has done."

    "I have seen Hamas actions of ruthless torture," al-Agha told a news conference which was the first of its kind for the new Fatah representative after Hamas took over the strip.

    The majority of Abbas' secular Fatah have fled to the West Bank after Hamas violently conquered their security compounds and all pro-Fatah facilities.

    Hamas has granted general amnesty to the Fatah members. However, al-Agha said that Fatah men, whom Israel used to arrest, "are now being detained by Hamas."

    "The arresting of Fatah people has not stopped and they (Hamas) have also confined people from other factions," said al-Agha, who is a member of the Fatah Central Committee.

    Hamas has asked Fatah for dialogue. But al-Agha said the talks cannot be started while "Hamas coup" was in place. "How can you ask the victim (Fatah) to resume talks," he said, noting that Fatah doesn't seek alienation "but the dialogue needed true intentions and suitable atmospheres."

    Al-Agha confirmed that there was no Arab or regional mediation to bring the two sides for talks.