Hebron clash said sparked by Palestinian infighting

The clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youths in the West Bank town of Hebron on Saturday were sparked off by in-fighting between Palestinian security forces and Palestinian policemen, Israel radio reported, quoting Palestinian sources.

Palestinian sources said "the disturbances in Hebron started with a scuffle between members of Jibril al-Rujub's preventive security service and Palestinian policemen.

Local residents tried to separate the combatants and when this failed, started hurling rocks at Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldiers to stop the fighting between the Palestinian security forces by involving them in a confrontation with IDF troops," the radio said.

It added that an Israeli border policeman was lightly injured in the clashes and that the area was now calm.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.