Speculation persisted yesterday over the leadership of Hamas in Gaza despite a widespread assumption that Mahmoud Zahar had taken over after Mr Rantissi’s assassination. Dr Zahar, 53, a physician, is seen as the senior member of the faction in Gaza. The attacks followed the firing of up to nine other rockets in an apparent surge of attacks on settlements in Gaza and the Negev desert. Mr Meshaal told hundreds of supporters at a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus, Syria, that the 22 Arab states and 30 non-Arab Muslim countries should “make an alliance, even a temporary one, to combine capabilities against the enemy”.Last night, a series of Qassam rocket attacks were carried out by Palestinian militants on the Israeli Gaza settlement of Nitsanit, causing three people to be slightly injured. The announcement followed an earlier call yesterday by the political leader of Hamas for an Arab and Muslim coalition to “defeat both the United States and Israel”.Khaled Meshaal was speaking at a memorial service for the Gaza group’s assassinated leader, Abdel Aziz Rantissi, who was killed by an Israeli missile strike on Saturday.

King Abdullah of Jordan has called off a meeting with George Bush, due to take place tomorrow, after questioning America’s commitment to the Middle East peace process. The meeting has been rescheduled for May while discussions over the United States’ position take place, a statement released by the royal palace said yesterday. Jordan is seen as a key ally for the US in the region and the announcement indicates the scale of Arab anger at President Bush’s support for Israel’s plans to keep Jewish settlements in some occupied territories while withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. Military commanders have warned that if the deal to disarm fell through they could launch an assault on the city. Some residents emerged from homes and US trucks drove through the city blaring messages urging food stores to open.But US officials have questioned how much influence the team of civic leaders has. As for you we just want to know that you are who you say you are. Don’t worry.” My belongings were gradually returned – all except the satellite phone.

More senior officials working for Sadr decided to escort us to Najaf. In the courtyard of a house we were addressed by Sadr’s spokesman, an unsmiling sheikh in grey robes called Qais al-Khazali. “I think the Americans understand about Iraq’s holy places,” said the sheikh “I don’t think they are so stupid as to attack us.”. Iraqi leaders in the besieged city of Fallujah have appealed for insurgents to turn in their heavy weapons such as mortars, surface-air-missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, US officials claimed yesterday. About half said they came from Sadr City, the enormous Shia slum in east Baghdad. They examined a copy of The New Yorker magazine they found in the car, one of them harrumphing “haram – forbidden” at a cartoon of a woman with a low blouse.Cigarettes were produced and one man said: “We Iraqis don’t want war but the Americans want our oil and the Israelis want to rule the Middle East.

Three gunmen, their chests covered in bandoleers and carrying machine guns, clambered into the car. Another car, full of gunmen, led us through the streets of Kufa to the Imam Ali mosque.Once there the mood of the gunmen slowly became less aggressive They all looked very poor young men. We had encountered the Army of the Mehdi guarding the road to Kufa It was not a pleasant experience. I was wearing a red-and-white check keffiyeh (Arab head dress) to avoid drawing attention to myselfas a foreigner on the road south from Baghdad. There have been frequent attacks on the US army and individual foreigners on the highway.The gunmen from the Mehdi Army did not like my head dress. They examined minutely and with great suspicion my camera, satellite phone and my mobile phone. They wondered if we were spies for the 2,500 US troops maintaining a loose siege of Najaf.