5 die as gunfire mars massive Arafat rally in Gaza

Palestinians carry a wounded youth during clashes at a huge gathering in Gaza city yesterday. Gunfire erupted killing at least five demonstrators and wounding at least 10 in Gaza City as hundreds of thousands gathered to mark the death of Yasser Arafat in the biggest rally organised by the Fatah party since its ouster by Hamas. Photo: AFP

Five people died when gunfire erupted in Gaza City on Monday as hundreds of thousands gathered to mark the death of Yasser Arafat in the biggest rally organised by the Fatah party since its ouster by Hamas.
Another 100 people were wounded when the shots rang out after the crowds started chanting "Shia, Shia" -- accusing the Islamist movement of being a proxy for Shia Iran and its ally Syria, witnesses and medics said.
Palestinian television showed images of groups of protestors and armed men running through the streets and police beating a Fatah supporter with wooden batons.
The city centre had been filled with a sea of the yellow flags of the party founded by Arafat and currently led by president Mahmud Abbas, whose forces were driven from the Gaza Strip in a bloody June takeover.
The crowds waved Palestinian flags and held portraits of the iconic leader in his trademark black-and-white chequered keffiyeh as Fatah party officials called for unity over loudspeakers.
"We say to Hamas and these armed militias, stop your crimes. These crimes will not shake our determination," Zakaria Al-Agha, chief of Fatah in Gaza said, reading a statement from Abbas.
"We call on Hamas which made a putsch to reverse course, and to end these criminal activities on the ground."
The event, which began at 1000 GMT, drew as many as half a million people, senior Fatah official Ahmed Hellis said.