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Hamas Minister held, freed by Israel

Haniyeh rejects Abbas' move

GAZA: Israeli security forces took into custody a member of the new Hamas-led Palestinian Cabinet on Thursday at a roadblock on the outskirts of Jerusalem and released him five hours later.

The Israeli army said Khaled Abu Araf was detained because his is barred from the area. The incident was another sign of Israel's tough line towards the Islamist militant group.

Security officials quoted by the Haaretz web site said Mr. Abu Araf, an independent, was detained because as the holder of an Israeli identity card he is banned by Israel from entering areas administrated by the Palestinian Authority.

Mr. Abu Araf, Minister of State for Jerusalem Affairs, can carry an Israeli ID because he lives in Arab East Jerusalem, which Israel captured and annexed in the 1967 war in a move that is not recognised internationally.

Taken to police station

Mr. Abu Arafa was stopped at an impromptu roadblock that Israeli soldiers positioned in the occupied West Bank, north of Jerusalem, Hamas sources said.

``They stopped the car and asked the Minister to get out and when he refused they forced him by pointing the rifle in his face,'' one of the sources said, citing accounts from witnesses who telephoned Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

Mr. Abu Arafa was en route to the office of former Palestinian minister Ziad Abu Ziad for a handover ceremony and was taken by soldiers to an unknown location, the sources said.

He was released five hours after being taken to an Israeli police station in the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim outside Jerusalem, said a Reuters cameraman at the scene.

Palestinian Cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad said Israel was undermining the work of the new Government.

``The arrest of a Cabinet Minister proves the falseness of Israel's arguments that it seeks peace,'' Mr. Hamad said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Haniyeh on Thursday rejected a decision by President Mahmoud Abbas to assume security control over the Gaza Strip's border crossings.

Mr. Abbas's overnight move underscores tensions with Hamas in the wake of the militant group's crushing win against the President's long-dominant Fatah in January elections.

Mr. Abbas's office issued a presidential decree taking over the Gaza crossings.

Sharon stable

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent a successful operation on Wednesday to reattach a piece of his skull, a day after the procedure was delayed because of a respiratory infection.

Mr. Sharon, who has been comatose since suffering a stroke on January 4, was in stable condition after the procedure, Hadassah Hospital said. — AP, AFP

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