GAZA, August 15 (RIA Novosti) - The leader of a radical Islamist group was found dead after violence in the Gaza Strip overnight, when at least 19 people were killed, a Haman Interior Ministry official said on Saturday.
The fighting erupted after Abdel-Latif Moussa announced the Palestinian enclave an Islamic emirate with stricter Islamic law, defying Hamas's rule during Friday's prayer in a mosque in the southern town of Rafah.
Mousa was killed in the mosque, where he had been holed up along with dozens of other members of the Army of Allah. He might have been killed from an explosive belt he was wearing, the source said.
A local radio said six police and Hamas's top security official in Rafah were among those killed in the violence, which also injured more than 120 people.
Moussa appeared in the mosque accompanied by dozens of armed supporters, defying the Hamas ban on carrying arms.
Unlike the Army of Allah, Hamas bills itself as a more pragmatic political force seeking a Palestinian statehood, rather than a global jihad. The group seized control of Gaza, ousting President Abbas's Fatah movement in a bloody five-day war in June 2007.
