Abducted Italian activist killed in Gaza

Hamas found the body today of a pro-Palestinian Italian activist who was killed by al-Qa'ida sympathisers in the Gaza Strip, raising questions about the Islamist group's control over the beleaguered enclave.

Two men were arrested and others were being sought for the abduction and killing of Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, who was found strangled in an abandoned house today, Hamas officials said.

A Jihadist Salafi group in Gaza aligned with al-Qa'ida had threatened yesterday to execute Arrigoni unless their leader, detained by Hamas last month, was freed.

It was an unprecedented challenge for Hamas, whose diehard hostility to Israel has deepened the isolation and poverty of Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

"Gaza is safe and I want to assure all visitors to Gaza that they are safe and secure," Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas prime minister, told a French journalist.

"The crime that took place was an isolated incident ... and we will enforce the law against the perpetrators."

Saeb Erekat, an aide to US-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction was driven out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007, called the killing "a dark page in Palestinian history" and appealed for national reconciliation.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum denounced the crime as an attempt "to harm international solidarity with besieged Gaza and to damage the image of the Palestinian people".

But there was also a shiver of fear that radicals who want Gaza to be an Islamic theocracy are bold enough to challenge Hamas over what they consider its lack of religious fervour.

There was clear outrage amongst ordinary people in Gaza over the cold-blooded killing of the Italian activist who had helped local fishermen and farmers.

Arrigoni had lived in Gaza since arriving aboard a humanitarian aid boat that Israel had admitted despite imposing a blockade on the territory.

"Vittorio was here for the Palestinian people, and they killed somebody who was here for them," fellow Gaza activist Silvia Todeschini, also from Italy, told Reuters.

"They will not kick us out. We will stay."

Palestinians liaising with Italian diplomats said Arrigoni's body would be repatriated via Israel on Sunday.

Hamas vehemently opposes Salafists who espouse a more extreme form of Islam and appear to be attracting recruits - including from among its own ranks.

Salafists see Hamas as insufficiently zealous in enforcing Islamic law, have attacked Internet cafes and want Christians expelled. Hamas has also aroused Salafist anger by broaching truces with the militarily superior Israelis and exploring political accommodation with secular Palestinian rivals.

Ehab Al-Ghssain, spokesman for the Hamas Interior Ministry, told a news conference the arrest and questioning of one of the group had led to the discovery of where Arrigoni was being held.

"The forces moved quickly and wisely to the place but found that the abducted man was killed hours earlier in an ugly manner," Ghssain said.

Ghssain said the kidnappers had rented the hideout and had used someone else's car to try to conceal their identities:

"Their intention from the very beginning was to kill their victim, because the crime took place after a short period."

In a YouTube clip posted earlier by his abductors, Arrigoni was shown blindfolded with blood around his right eye. A hand was seen pulling his head up by his hair to face the camera.

"The Italian hostage entered our land only to spread corruption," an accompanying Arabic text said, describing Italy as "the infidel state". It named the captors' leader as Hesham al-Sa'eedni and demanded he be released from a Hamas prison.

Gazan sources had previously identified Sa'eedni as a senior member of the radical Islamist group Tawheed and Jihad. That faction said today it had no connection to Arrigoni's death.

Arrigoni was the first foreigner to be abducted in Gaza since BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who was held for 114 days by another al-Qa'ida-inspired group. He was released in 2007.

Hamas said the killing could dovetail with Israel's bids to isolate Gaza. International activists plan to sail as many as 15 ships there next month, defying the Israeli navy's closure.