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Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006

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Israeli soldiers storm jail on West Bank

Atul Aneja and Agencies

Militant jailed for murder of Israeli Minister seized; attack triggers abductions in Palestinian territories

DUBAI: A Palestinian militant leader surrendered to Israeli troops on Tuesday after a day-long siege of a West Bank jail sparked an unprecedented wave of abductions and anti-Western violence across Palestinian territories.

Ahmed Saadat, leader of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and five other militants walked out of the Jericho jail. They were jailed for their role in the 2001 murder of a far-right Israeli Minister.

Saadat was then put into the back of an Israeli army jeep, ending a massive massive Israeli assault on the prison in this normally sleepy oasis town.

The head of Israeli central command, General Yair Naveh, said the operation was completed successfully.

The Israelis demolished buildings and killed at least one prison guard. They deployed a helicopter, three tanks and 52 jeeps, apart from a bulldozer, in the raid.

Mr. Saadat earlier said he would prefer death to surrender. In telephone interviews to the media, he was quoted as saying: "The occupiers are planning a massacre in the Jericho complex. There is shelling from all angles and destroying the prison from all sides." He said two of his colleagues were already killed.

An Israeli army spokesman said 182 people were taken from the prison and were being questioned. Over 26 persons were wounded. An estimated 30 to 80 persons were still inside the compound.

As news of the raid spread, angry Palestinians resorted to violence in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza. In Gaza, armed men kidnapped the director of International Red Cross and two Australians, who were later released. A British Council cultural centre was set ablaze. In the northern West Bank city of Jenin, an American teacher at Arab American University was abducted for a few hours. The militant Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades warned American and British nationals to leave the Palestinian territories immediately. Amid the violence, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated against the Israeli raid throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The sudden departure of British and American monitors from the prison compound contributed to the furious Palestinian response. Under a 2002 deal with Israel, the British and U.S. monitors were supervising Mr. Saadat's imprisonment.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the raid and said the British and American monitors were responsible for the safety of prisoners. He called their withdrawal a grave violation of international agreements with the Palestinians.

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