Palestinian Security Official Escapes Attack

A top Palestinian security official who is a cousin of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat escaped death late Thursday when a rocket-propelled grenade missed his Gaza City office and hit a prison instead, wounding 10 inmates, officials said.

Speculation on the attempt against Maj. Gen. Moussa Arafat focused on fellow Palestinians because residents said there were no Israeli soldiers in the vicinity. An Israeli military source called the incident an internal Palestinian matter, without elaborating.

In a statement, Palestinian security officials said several of the casualties were seriously wounded. Moussa Arafat’s office is in a compound that includes the central prison and security offices.

The attack came as Israeli soldiers, police and volunteers fanned out in search of a missing soldier. Police expressed concern that he might have been kidnapped and killed by Palestinian extremists, despite a cease-fire.

Oleg Shaichat, 20, was in uniform and armed when last seen Monday near the village of Cana on his way home to a nearby Jewish satellite of Nazareth, Israel’s largest Arab town.

The main Palestinian militant groups called a temporary truce June 29, but Israel and the Palestinian Authority are struggling to make progress on the stalled “road map” peace plan, a U.S.-backed blueprint for ending violence and establishing a Palestinian state by 2005.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was to meet with President Bush today in Washington, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to meet with Bush on Tuesday.