JENIN, West Bank ? A militant brazenly challenged the new Palestinian security chief Tuesday, firing his weapon outside police headquarters in this West Bank town as the commander was holding meetings in the building. The chief ordered the gunman’s arrest, but quickly backed down and let him walk away.

The confrontation between Interior Minister Nasser Yousef and Zakariye Zubeydi, a militant who is seen by residents as the ruler of Jenin, illustrated the delicate balance the Palestinian Authority must strike between reining in armed groups through persuasion and fending off international calls for a crackdown.

Yousef, a tough ex-general who oversaw a crackdown on militants in 1996, took office last week in a Cabinet reshuffle.

In Jenin, Zubeydi rose to prominence as the local leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent group with ties to Abbas’ ruling Fatah movement. Zubeydi is both feared and admired by residents.

Tuesday, Yousef drove into the adjacent Jenin refugee camp in a motorcade of several cars filled with bodyguards.

After Yousef reached Jenin’s police headquarters, Zubeydi and his followers marched into the compound, and three of the men began shooting in the air.

A Palestinian security officer tries to prevent an Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant from shooting in the air Tuesday in the West Bank town of Jenin.

One policeman tried to wrest the gun away from one of Zubeydi’s followers. One militant, in turn, pointed his M-16 rifle at one of the soldiers. At that point, Zubeydi ordered the men to stop firing and they left.

“We are not leaving Jenin before we have arrested this bunch of criminals,” Yousef said, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Yousef quickly backed down, however, and met with Zubeydi, who returned to the building armed with a rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest. Zubeydi walked away a free man, and Yousef refused to comment on his reversal.