Gunmen kill veteran Arafat adviser in Gaza

Gunmen shot dead a veteran Palestinian journalist and prominent adviser to President Yasser Arafat in Gaza City yesterday, witnesses and medics said.

Khalil al-Zebin, 59, who ran a Palestinian Authority-funded magazine and advised Arafat on human rights and media issues, was the most prominent victim yet of a breakdown of law and order accelerated by frequent Israeli raids.

In Washington, the Bush administration showed signs of moving toward agreeing with Israel on a unilateral plan to remove Jewish settlements from Gaza - which some analysts suspect could inflame a developing Palestinian power struggle.

Mr Zebin was shot several times by unidentified attackers, who struck shortly after midnight outside his office. He died soon after arriving at Gaza's Shifa Hospital, medics said. Police said they were investigating but no arrests had been made.