Masked men attacked a Palestinian Cabinet member near his house in the West Bank city of Ramallah Monday in an assault described by a Palestinian official as a "criminal act." Hassan Asfour, minister of nongovernmental organizations affairs, was taken to hospital with light injuries after five masked men attacked him as he got out of his car, an aide to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said. (Read photo caption)

"This is a cowardly and dirty assault against minister Asfour," the aide, Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, told Reuters at the hospital.
"The leadership considers this assault as a criminal act aimed against the Palestinian legitimacy and intended to create sedition among Palestinians," he said.

He said Arafat instructed Palestinian security forces to find the attackers and bring them to justice.

Moussa Abu Hmaid, head of government hospitals in the West Bank, said Asfour, a former peace negotiator with Israel, was in stable condition suffering from a fractured wrist and leg and a cut to the head. He said Asfour's bodyguard was also injured in the attack.

PHOTO CAPTION

Cabinet minister Hassan Asfour, left, and Palestinian Health Minister, Riad Zanoun, applaud Monday, April 29, 2002 as trucks bearing aid for Palestinians leave on their way to the Egyptian-Israeli border at Rafah, 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of Cairo for the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)