Palestinian PM promises probe of police beatings at protest

The Palestinian prime minister promised today to investigate the violent dispersal of an anti-government protest by Palestinian riot police.
In yesterday's incident, helmeted troops beat demonstrators and journalists with clubs during a protest against President Mahmoud Abbas and his policy of security coordination with Israel. Abbas heads the Palestinian Authority which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Jihad Barakat of Palestine Today TV said he was pushed, his camera was broken and that he saw three colleagues being beaten with clubs. Four people were briefly detained. Critics have said Abbas and his government are becoming increasingly intolerant of dissent.

Dozens of people have been detained after peaceful protests in the past six months, though most were released, Amar Dweik, head of Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, said today. Dweik called for an investigation of Sunday's incident.
Later in the day, Rami Hamdallah, the prime minister in the Palestinian autonomy government, promised an investigation. He said he formed a committee that includes Dweik, the deputy interior minister and members of the lawyers' union.