Palestinians Riot to Protest Slaying of 3 PLO Officials

Palestinians rioted in the occupied lands today to protest the slayings of the PLO’s deputy leader and two other officials in Tunisia. Arab reports said army gunfire killed two demonstrators and wounded at least 60.

The army confirmed 13 people were wounded and said it was checking other reports.

The worst clashes occurred in the Gaza Strip, once home to Salah Khalaf, the most prominent of the three PLO officials slain Monday night in a Tunis suburb.

Throughout the seaside strip and the occupied West Bank, Palestinians raised black flags of mourning and staged marches. Muslim preachers read verses from the Koran over mosque loudspeakers, and church bells pealed.

Police fired tear gas to break up a protest in the Arab area of Shufat in Jerusalem.

The army imposed curfews on the West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin and in more than a dozen refugee camps regarded as Palestine Liberation Organization strongholds in both occupied territories. It declared Gaza a closed military area, barring entry to journalists.

Many Palestinians blamed Israel for the slaying of the 57-year-old Khalaf along with the two other PLO officials, security chief Hael Abdel Hamid and Abu Mohammed Omari, Khalaf’s aide.

Khalaf, known as Abu Iyad, masterminded the murders of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.

“Who else is behind the killing . . . but the Israelis? Israel chose the timing as the rest of the world is busy with the gulf crisis,” said Omari’s brother, Ahmed, speaking from his Gaza City home.

Israel denied involvement in the killings. Defense Minister Moshe Arens told ABC-TV: “The answer is definitely no, we had nothing to do with it. I think it was probably the work of some dissident faction in the PLO.”