Hamas vows to avenge leader's killing

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian mourners cried for vengeance yesterday for Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, slain by Israeli missiles even as the Jewish state plans to quit the group's Gaza stronghold.

In secret, Hamas named a new official to replace 56-year-old Rantissi - the second leader of the militant Muslim group to be assassinated by Israel in less than a month. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin died in a previous missile attack on March 22.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon praised the army for Saturday's helicopter strike on the firebrand Rantissi, Hamas's political leader in Gaza, and pledged his country would continue to "fight terror".

Sharon told his cabinet the killing was part of a dual strategy to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza, occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war, while striking militants. Key ministers pledged support for the plan after the meeting.

Rantissi's body was carried aloft on a stretcher draped in a green Hamas flag. Mourners kissed his shrapnel-sliced face and others tossed flower petals onto the body. Fists shook at the sky in anger as four Israeli warplanes roared overhead.

"The blood of Yassin and Rantissi will not be wasted. Their blood will force the eruption of new volcanoes," one militant cried. Thousands took up the refrain of revenge, chanting: "We will sacrifice our souls and blood for Rantissi."

Rantissi, an Egyptian-trained paediatrician who was outspoken in support of violence against Israel, died when two missiles slammed into his car hours after a suicide bomber killed an Israeli soldier at northern Gaza's Erez crossing.

Rantissi was buried yesterday in Gaza's Martyrs' Cemetery. Hamas has so far failed to carry out the kind of massive attack it had promised to avenge Yassin's death.

Faced with an Israeli threat to wipe out all its leaders, Hamas said it had named Rantissi's successor but would keep his identity secret. Palestinian sources speculated the new leader was either Mahmoud al-Zahar or Ismail Haniyah.

Zahar said reaction for Rantissi and Yassin would come. "The Israelis are hiding, they are keeping off the streets. We will retaliate when the time is right," he said.

Rantissi's killing stoked Palestinian anger already high over US President George W. Bush's statement last week backing Sharon's pullout plan - which would also let Israel keep some West Bank land Palestinians want for an eventual state.

Protests against Rantissi's assassination erupted across the West Bank in scenes that recalled the start of an uprising more than 3-1/2 years ago. Israeli troops used teargas and rubber bullets to drive back stone-throwers.

"It is no doubt a crime," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie told reporters. "Unfortunately the Israelis feel they are supported by the United States administration."

Mr Qurie wrote to world leaders yesterday urging them to restart Middle East peace talks, accusing the United States of breaking international law by making "concessions" in the name of the Palestinians.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan criticised Rantissi's killing, saying it could lead to more violence in the Middle East. The European Union and Russia also condemned it.

The United Nations, the EU, Russia and the United States form a "Quartet" of brokers who have charted a "road map" to a Middle East peace. But some European officials feel Bush's statement last week sidelined the other group members.

The United States denied giving Israel the green light to go after Rantissi but refrained from condemning the assassination.

In his first public comments on the killing, Mr Sharon said: "The policy is an effort on the one hand to progress on the diplomatic process and on the other to harm the terror organisations and those who lead them."