Dozens of Palestinian gunmen shot their way into the office of the Palestinian intelligence service early on Sunday and burned down the one-story building in Gaza.

An offshoot of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades al-Aqsa has claimed to have carried out the attack to protest Arafat's appointment of his intelligence chief, Moussa Arafat, to be chief of the Palestinian security forces.

One security guard was wounded in a gun battle with the militants.

Moussa Arafat's appointment was part of the Palestinian leader's reforms to his security forces. Despite the protests, Moussa Arafat took control of the security forces at a handover ceremony in Gaza City on Sunday, saying he was prepared to fight all "potential enemies."

In Gaza late on Saturday, about 2,000 protesters marched to the Palestinian Legislative Council building.

(CRI.com July 19, 2004)