COMBINED REPORTS


GAZA -- A top Palestinian official accused Islamic Jihad on Monday of trying to undermine Palestinian self-rule and promised tough action against the militant group which killed three Israeli army officers in Gaza last week.


Freih Abu Medeen, the Palestinian Authority member in charge of justice, said the group had crossed "the red line" twice -- when its followers booed PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat out of the funeral of an assassinated activist and when it killed the soldiers.


"This is the red line the Islamic Jihad crossed and we will never accept having double authority in Gaza," Abu Medeen told Israeli army radio.


Islamic Jihad opposes the peace accord with Israel under which Gaza came under Palestinian self-rule in May.


Palestinian security forces have rounded up scores of Islamic Jihad activists in response to pressure from Israel over Friday's attack by a suicide bicycle bomber at an Israeli army position near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim.


Abu Medeen said up to 160 militants, including Islamic Jihad spokesman Abdallah al-Shami, had been arrested. But Shami's wife said in a radio interview her husband was free and in hiding.


"He has not been arrested. He called this morning -- but I don't know from where -- and assured us that he was not in jail," the wife told Israel Radio.


Palestinian police also enforced a newly imposed ban on street protests, preventing a memorial march for Hisham Hamad, the suicide bomber.


They set up roadblocks, searched vehicles and turned away cars and busses carrying Islamic Jihad supporters. The group later canceled the march because of low turnout.


Israel has also ordered tougher measures against Palestinian suspects. Israeli police sources, confirming an Israel Radio report, said limits on physical means used by Shin Bet secret service interrogators would be relaxed under a three-month trial measure approved by a ministerial committee.