al-Aqsa Storms Cabinet Building to Demand Lucrative Taxi Licenses

A group of twenty - many of whom work in the security forces - al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades gunmen took over the Cabinet building in Ramallah on Thursday in protest of the refusal of Hamas to meet their demands for perks and promotions. Security forces at the Cabinet building eventually persuaded them to leave.

Earlier Thursday, the group had shut down the Transportation Ministry, forcing employees to leave the building.

An al-Aqsa spokesman, Kamal Saffaka, said that the previous government, run by Fatah, had awarded them hundreds of taxi licenses as perks. Each license is worth thousands of dollars. The group also demanded that its members win promotions in the security forces.