NABLUS, March 4: Palestinian militants fired on a Palestinian police station on Friday in an incident that underscored difficulties new President Mahmoud Abbas faces in trying to impose law and order in the West Bank and Gaza.

The incident began when a member of the militant al-Awda Brigades, part of Mr Abbas's Fatah faction, came to the station in the West Bank city of Nablus to visit his jailed brother, but was refused permission to see him by police.

The militant shouted threats at police and was then beaten by them before he called in other gunmen from the group who began firing at the station, a member of the brigades said. Return fire from police wounded two of the armed men, he added. A policeman was also wounded and additional back up forces were called in, witnesses said.

Another brigades member said the incident erupted after police refused to apologize for beating up their man. A policeman at the Nablus station declined to give details other than to say, "We were attacked by gunmen."

In other incidents this week, militants shot at the house of former minister Jamil Tarifi in Ramallah while others fired towards a convoy bringing new Interior Minister Nasser Yousef into the city of Jenin for a visit this week.

One policeman was lightly wounded near Youssef's convoy. Mahmoud Abbas, elected on Jan 9 to succeed the late Yasser Arafat, has vowed to end armed chaos in the Palestinian territories. He has said he hoped to restore law and order through dialogue rather than confrontation with armed groups.

Mr Abbas said on Friday his efforts were complicated by Israel's delay in pulling back forces from West Bank cities as part of a cease fire deal he and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reached at a Feb. 8 summit. -Reuters