Unknown group claims Hamas kidnap

The Palestinian Authority has urged Hamas to disarm

A previously unknown Palestinian group has said it was behind the abduction of three senior members of the militant group Hamas in the West Bank.

At least one of the three kidnapped men was later released.

Hamas said members of the Palestinian security service were behind the kidnapping incidents.

A confrontation between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority has escalated since Israel's Gaza pullout, with three people dying in clashes on Sunday.

Statement released

The group which said it carried out the kidnappings of Hamas members called itself Omar bin al-Khattab Brigades.

"This is a response to Hamas' violations and disregard for law and order and their attacks on security institutions and Palestinian leaders," the group said in a statement sent to Palestinian media.

"We warn Hamas and ask them to stop their policy and learn their lessons. This is our first response," it added.

The three men - Riad Abdel Karim al-Raz, Bassem Abeido and Hassan Safi - were seized respectively from Tulkarem, Hebron and Bethlehem.

Loggerheads

Mr Raz, an engineering professor, was released several hours later, but said he did not know who his abductors were.

A Hamas official, Mushir al-Masri, later accused "certain circles in the Palestinian Authority" of being involved in the kidnapping.

Hamas and the governing party, Fatah, have been at loggerheads ever since Israel completed the pullout from the Gaza Strip.

Militants are refusing to disarm, a condition which Israel says it essential for peace talks to go ahead.