The assassinated Arafat always surrounded himself with bodyguards. (Reuters).

GAZA CITY, September 7, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Mussa Arafat, military advisor to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and a cousin of his late predecessor Yasser Arafat, was shot dead by assailants in the Gaza Strip overnight, Palestinian security sources said Wednesday, September 7.

The former Palestinian security chief was killed at his home following an exchange of fire between the attackers and his bodyguards, the sources said, adding that his son, Manhal, was kidnapped in the attack, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Gunmen with rifles and anti-tank grenades battled the guards at Arafat's house for more than 30 minutes before storming in and pulling him outside, witnesses told Reuters.

Blood spattered the street outside the house. Doctors said Arafat was dead on arrival at Gaza's main al-Quds hospital.

A Palestinian militant coalition, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), claimed responsibility for the killing of Moussa Arafat and the kidnapping of his son, according to media reports.

In a telephone call to AFP, the faction's spokesman, known only as Abu Abir, said Arafat had been "eliminated" by the Salaheddin Brigades. But he added reasons behind the killing will be announced later.

The Popular Resistance Committees appeared at the start of the second uprising five years ago with the apparent approval of the Palestinian Authority, formed by security elements from Abbas's Fatah movement, AFP said.

Since then, it has attracted breakaway members from all the principal Palestinian factions including the nationalist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine as well as the radical Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements.

Mussa Arafat, known to have many enemies, survived an assassination attempt in July 2003 when attackers threw a grenade towards his car.

His death comes as Palestinian security forces prepare to take control of the Gaza Strip which the Israeli army has vowed to vacate completely by September 15.

Arafat lost his position as national security chief in April when Abbas got rid of several officials close to Yasser Arafat. He was subsequently named as advisor on military affairs with ministerial rank.

Yasser Arafat died in a Paris hospital last November.

The late Palestinian leader had appointed Mussa Arafat as head of security in July 2004 to loud protests in the Gaza Strip, and even within Yasser Arafat's own Fatah movement.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed resistance faction and offshoot of the dominant Fatah faction, led the chorus of disapproval, accusing Mussa Arafat of being a symbol of corruption within the Palestinian Authority.

In the hours following his nomination, the offices of the military intelligence services which he ran in the southern Gaza Strip were torched by Al-Aqsa.

Mussa Arafat arrived in the Palestinian territories in the wake of the 1993 Oslo peace plan for the Middle East.

As head of military intelligence he took part in the repression of armed groups. The resentment against him dates from that time when he earned a reputation for brutality.

He was the most senior Palestinian figure killed in internal violence that has raised doubts over the ability of security forces to keep order in a possible power struggle for the Strip -- seen as a testing ground for statehood once Israel leaves, Reuters said.

The assassinated Arafat, 64, ensured that he looked the part as a major-general with his graying, carefully clipped moustache and neatly pressed uniform.

Feared by many in Gaza and liked by few, he had a reputation for being very ready to use force.

The brazen assassination is set to fuel fears of turmoil ahead of Israel's final troop withdrawal from the occupied territory.

A plethora of forces and armed resistance groups all hope for a share of power in Gaza, the first entire territory that Palestinians will have had to rule without an Israeli military presence, Reuters commented.

Israeli and Palestinian officials have said they expect the Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza to be completed by Sept. 15.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was due to meet aides Wednesday to finalize details for the handover to the Palestinians.

Some Israeli commentators suggested the timetable could be accelerated after an incident Tuesday in which a Palestinian man was shot by soldiers and three others wounded when they tried to force their way into a demolished settlement.

Several hours after the confrontation, Palestinian activists fired two rockets into southern Israel.