Israel Raids Jail to Detain Saadat, Abbas Blames US

JERICHO, West Bank, March 14, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli occupation forces stormed on Tuesday, March 14, a US-British guarded prison compound in the West Bank town of Areha (Jericho) to detain a senior Palestinian activist, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held the US and Britain responsible for the escalation.

"We have no other option but to resist," Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), told the Doha-based Al-Jazeera channel over the phone from his prison cell.

"We will not surrender and will face our destiny in bravery."

Israeli soldiers have swarmed into the prison compound to detain Saadat and three other PFLP members.

Soldiers blew up the outer wall of the prison compound, then brought up bulldozers.

Palestinian officials said a guard and a prisoner were killed in the Israeli raid while nearly 100 Palestinian security personnel were detained by the Israeli forces.

Israeli Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra said the move came after reports that Saadat and the others could be released.

Last week, Abbas said he was prepared to free Saadat, jailed under US and British supervision since August 2002 after the PFLP claimed the 2001 killing of far-right Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi to avenge the assassination of Saadat's predecessor.

Massacre

Saadat warned that the ongoing Israeli raid risks to cause a massacre.

"There are some 200 people besieged in the prison and this risks to cause a massacre."

Saadat accused both Washington and London of collaborating with Israel in carrying out the attack.

"The Palestinian Authority is also blamed for its shaky stance."

Mosques across Areha called on citizens over loudspeakers to flock to the area to protect the soldiers and prisoners inside the compound.

There were also demonstrations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

But Israeli troops have recently pushed into the town on several occasions.

US, Britain Blamed

Denouncing the attack, President Abbas held both the United States and Britain responsible for the Israeli aggression, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We hold responsible the American and British guardians who took responsibility to guard the prisoners," he said in a statement.

The United States and Britain withdrew their monitors from the prison just before the Israeli attack on claims of security concerns.

"We hold them fully responsible for any threats against Ahmed Saadat and Fuad Shubaki (a Fatah official) and their colleagues," the statement added.

Ahmed Abdel Rahman, an aide to Abbas, dismissed the American-British move as "a violation of the agreement with the Palestinian Authority."

Saadat is normally guarded by British and US prison guards, in addition to Palestinian jailers.

Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniya also condemned the Israeli raid.

"This is a dangerous escalation. We warn against continuing such destructive actions, particularly attempts on the lives of Saadat and his brothers," Haniya said in Gaza City.

Hamas accused acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government of "trying to use Palestinian blood to win the Israeli election" on March 28.

Visiting the Jewish settlement of Ariel at the heart of the West Bank on Tuesday, Olmert vowed that he would never give it up and said that any settlers evacuated from smaller outposts would be brought into major settlement blocs.