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Assad Saftawi's 12-year-old son ran out of the schoolyard and up to his father's car; then he noticed three masked gunmen on the other side. One fired a 9mm pistol, and the bullet hit Assad Saftawi just below the eye.
"He turned to talk to them, but they shot again," said Ali Saftawi, still shaking with fear.
The murder on Thursday of Assad Saftawi, a close associate of PLO leader Yasser Arafat, was the third assassination of a moderate Palestinian since the Israel-PLO accord was signed in Washington on Sept. 13.
It threatened to ignite a vicious cycle of killings and reprisals among Palestinians and posed a challenge to the PLO leader, who must exert control over Gaza before Israel's army starts withdrawing on Dec. 13.
Armed members of the underground Fatah Hawks appeared at Saftawi's three-story house after the slaying and fired several shots in the air as a salute to the fallen Palestinian leader. They vowed...