Ramallah  - The military wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement on Saturday claimed responsibility for wounding an Israeli settler in a West Bank shooting.

The settler was slightly wounded Saturday morning when his car came under fire near Alei Zahav settlement to the south of Qalqilya city, according to Israeli sources.

In a statement sent to the media, Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades said the attack was in response to the frequent Israeli army raids in the West Bank.

The group vowed to carry out more armed attacks against "the Israeli occupation forces and the settlers" if the Israeli raids continued.

London, Sept. 25 : The international Quartet – consisting of the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia – is being accused of creating a "vacuum of leadership" as the aid agencies complain that "visible progress" in the Middle East has "failed to materialise".

The report referred to by The Independent, says that despite the Quartet saying in June that such progress was vital to building confidence in the negotiating process, it has failed to press home its own calls on Israel for a freeze on settlement building, an improvement in the movement of Palestinian people and goods, and a revival of the collapsed economy in Gaza.

Gaza - Egypt opened its border with Gaza Strip on Saturday to allow the passage of Palestinians who want to perform minor pilgrimages to Mecca (Omra), stranded people and patients, Palestinian security sources said.

The Hamas-controlled interior ministry in Gaza said the Rafah border crossing would remain partially open until late Sunday. Palestinians stranded at the Egyptian side would also be able to cross to Gaza.

Except for occasional exceptions for humanitarian reasons, Egypt has kept the Rafah crossing closed since Hamas took over control of the Gaza Strip by force last year.

Baghdad - Iraqi police arrested eight suspects on Tuesday in search of accomplices of a female suicide bomber who killed 22 people, security sources said.

The bomber blew herself up Monday amidst a crowd near a police station in Balad Ruz in Diyala province, 57 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported.

Eleven policemen were among the 22 fatalities. Thirty-three civilians were injured in the attack.

According to a report by the Monitor of Constitutional Freedom and Bill of Rights, a Baghdad-based group, women embittered by the loss of their husbands and children in acts of violence are potential suicide bombers.

Gaza City - At least 11 Palestinians were killed in another outbreak of violent internecine clashes in the Gaza Strip, the worst in more than a month, security officials said Tuesday.

The clashes took place in southern Gaza City's al-Sabra neighbourhood, between forces from the radical Islamic Hamas movement ruling the strip and a powerful local clan, the Dughmush.

At least one Hamas policeman and four members of the Dughmush family, including an infant, were among the dead, the security officials said.

A statement by the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry said the police forces killed three "wanted criminals" who refused to surrender during an attempt to arrest them.

Baghdad - Extremists in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul killed three members of the same family, the US military reported on Friday.