Leader of Al-Qaida Inspired Group in Gaza Killed

The leader of an al-Qaida-inspired Palestinian group in Gaza is dead following a gunbattle that killed 22 people and wounded more than 120.

Hamas officials said Saturday hardline cleric Abdel-Latif Moussa - the leader of Jund Ansar Allah ("Soldiers of the Followers of God") was killed in an explosion Saturday morning.  It was not immediately clear if the blast was set off by Hamas forces or militants holed up inside Moussa's home.

On Friday, Moussa declared Gaza an Islamic emirate and called for the implementation of strict Sharia (Islamic) law in a challenge to Hamas, which rules Gaza.  

Hamas security forces then engaged in an hours-long battle at a mosque in the southern town of Rafah to put down the uprising.

Five Hamas policemen and a senior Hamas commander, Abu-Jibril Shimali were killed in the fighting.

Israel says Shimali's brigade was responsible for the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit in June 2006.

Jund Ansar Allah is one of a handful of small, extremist groups that have criticized Hamas for its cease-fire with Israel, and demanded the imposition of a strict form of Islam in Gaza.

Although Hamas is an Islamist movement, observers say its focus on Palestinian nationalism sets it apart from al-Qaida's goals of broad religious war.

The issue of al-Qaida influence in Gaza is particularly sensitive.  Israeli officials have alleged that non-Palestinian militants who previously fought in Iraq and Afghanistan have infiltrated the area.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh denied in his Friday sermon that any non-Palestinian gunmen had taken up residence in the Gaza Strip.