By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gunmen killed an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in a street ambush early Tuesday, feeding fears of growing lawlessness and chaos ahead of a possible Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Khalil al-Zaben, 59, was hit by 12 bullets as he left his Gaza City office. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing, seen as one of the most serious challenges yet to Arafat. Security officials said they had no suspects.
The Palestinian Authority has been weakened by more than three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, and armed gangs, included gunmen with ties to Arafat's Fatah movement, are increasingly controlling the streets.
Al-Zaben, a local publisher, had recently criticized the growing chaos and spoken out against the rogue armed gangs roaming Gaza. He was the best-known Palestinian to be killed in the internal fighting and power struggles in Gaza City.
The Palestinian Cabinet and national security council were to discuss the killing at a meeting Tuesday, said minister Saeb Erekat.
"This chaos will not be tolerated. I believe the Palestinian government and security forces must take all action to end this chaos," Erekat said. "It is really undermining the Palestinian struggle to establish an independent state."
The shooting was the latest in a string of violent confrontations in Gaza and the West Bank.
On Saturday, about 15 masked, armed Palestinians barged into the Gaza City offices of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, demanding jobs.
In a similar incident last Wednesday, about 20 masked men armed with submachine guns and hand grenades raided the Gaza City office of the Palestinian Land Authority, demanding land deeds be transferred to their names, employees said.
On Friday, the mayor of the West Bank's largest city, Nablus, resigned amid growing chaos and infighting between armed militias. Mayor Ghassan Shakaa accused Arafat of not doing enough to prevent Nablus from plummeting into lawlessness. In November, Palestinian gunmen shot and killed Shakaa's brother.
At Gaza police headquarters recently, rival groups opened fire on each other after an armed man slapped the police chief. A policeman was killed in the exchange that followed, which involved Arafat's forces and men loyal to Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan, an Arafat rival. Later, Arafat and Dahlan met in an attempt to stop the violence.
There is concern that chaos will follow a planned Israeli pullout from most of the Gaza Strip. Islamic militant opposition groups could try to seize power.
In more than three years of fighting, Israel has attacked and destroyed the headquarters and infrastructure of many branches of the official Palestinian security forces. In most places, the uniformed men barely function. In some cases, security forces are active in militant activities.
Al-Zaben joined forces with Arafat in the 1960s and held a number of positions, including media adviser and personal secretary. He returned to Gaza along with Arafat and other exiled Palestinian leaders in 1994, under terms of Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accords.
More recently, he published a weekly magazine devoted to Palestinian affairs and human rights. In a recent article, he criticized "killer gangs" he said were behind the chaos.
Two of his brothers are Palestinian ambassadors in South America, and his son works as an airline pilot there. He is also survived by his wife and three daughters.
The Gaza journalists' association condemned the killing and called for the Palestinian attorney general to resign for his "failure" to protect civilians. The group urged Arafat to bring the attackers to justice.
"Everyone will remember March 1 as a black day in the history of freedom and democracy," said Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, deputy chairman of the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a militant group, also condemned the killing. "We hold the Palestinian Authority responsible for the continuation of attacks against journalists and other sectors of the Palestinian civil society," the group said.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed an unarmed Palestinian man as they surrounded the home of a fugitive in the West Bank village of Yatta, an army spokeswoman said. The man fled the home and was shot after he refused to halt, she said.
In Washington, an Israeli delegation headed by Dov Weisglass, the head of Sharon's office, met National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell to outline and discuss the prime minister's plan to unilaterally withdraw from parts of the Gaza Strip.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An American soldier was killed Tuesday when insurgents tossed a grenade at an Army Humvee as it drove down a road Baghdad, the military said.
Another soldier was injured and taken to a military hospital where he was listed in serious condition. There was no word on Iraqi casualties.
Both soldiers were part of the 1st Armored Division. Their names were being withheld.
The military said it didn't believe the attack was related to the bombings at Shiite shrines in the capital in Karbala, which left several dead and injured.
The latest death brings to 548 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the United States launched the Iraq war in March. Most have died since President Bush declared an end to active combat May 1.