Jordan wants driver death inquiry

Amman: Jordan demanded a swift Palestinian inquiry into yesterday's killing of a Jordanian driver for the country's top diplomat in Gaza amid rising tensions between the kingdom and Hamas.

Khalid Radaida, 45, was shot dead as he drove on a Gaza street where Hamas fighters exchanged fire with Palestinian police allied to President Mahmoud Abbas.

It was not clear whether the vehicle, with Jordanian diplomatic plates, was targeted or inadvertently drove into the battle.

The kingdom "asked the Palestinian National Authority to launch an immediate inquiry into the incident and to provide details in the soonest possible instant," the official Petra news agency quoted a government statement as saying.

It did not say if Jordan believed the driver was deliberately targeted by gunmen loyal to Hamas, which Jordan has accused of smuggling weapons into the kingdom for use in attacks against public institutions and officials.

Jordanian authorities have arrested more than 20 Hamas activists since the large arms cache, which included Iranian-made Katyusha rockets, was found April 18. Jordan has also accused Hamas' exiled leadership in Syria of instigating the plot allegations Hamas and Syria both deny.

The government statement said that Radaida, who worked for Yehyia Qarallah Jordan's representative in Gaza "sustained a fatal wound to the head" as he drove by the Palestinian Legislative Council building in Gaza.

A Jordanian official said it was too early to say whether the driver was intentionally shot or if he had been caught in the crossfire.

Tensions have surged in the past week between Hamas and Fatah.

Hamas and Fatah accused each other of starting the battle. After more than two hours of fighting, sporadic shots still echoed through the largely deserted streets of the seaside city.

Some witnesses said members of the new Hamas-led militia returned fire after coming under attack.

Hamas officials said the assailants were from the Preventive Security agency, staffed by men loyal to Fatah. Ordinary police also joined the battle, witnesses said.