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EU beefs up security at Gaza office

02 February 2006, 14:03 CET


The European Commission has beefed up security at its office in the Gaza Strip after Palestinian gunmen beseiged the building on Thursday, a spokeswoman said.

"Some security measures have been taken," said Emma Udwin, the EU executive's external relations spokeswoman. She refused to go into details for security reasons.

"We believe that this is linked in some way to threats that have been made today against some European nationals," she said.

Two armed groups, the Popular Resistance Committee and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, have threatened to target Danish, French and Norwegian nationals in the Palestinian territories.

They made the threat after cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed were published in newspapers and magazines in several European countries.

After their descent on the building in Gaza City, the militants scrawled the words "Closed Until Further Notice" on the front door.

"We declare that the EU offices are closed until further notice and we give the Danish, French and Norwegian governments 48 hours to present their apologies," they said in a statement.

"European provocations have placed the offices and European churches in our line of fire," it warned.

Udwin suggested the militants might be shooting themselves in the foot.

"Colleagues working in the region are usually there to try and improve the lot of the Palestinian people, and those who make threats should bear this in mind. We oppose all use of force to settle such affairs," she said.

Referring to the cartoons' publishers, she said: "Those who use freedom of expression speak in their own right and they are not controlled by their governments when they do this in Europe."


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