Arab Politics

Dead Man Walking, Samstag, 19. Juli 2003, 18:07 (vor 7802 Tagen)

Jenin Governor Kidnapped by Palestinian Militants
Larry James-Jerusalem-19 Jul 2003, 13:44 UTC

Palestinian militants have kidnapped the acting
governor of the West Bank district of Jenin. The
militants are accusing the governor of
collaborating with Israel.

Witnesses in Jenin say members of the Al Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades kidnapped Haider Irsheid in broad
daylight as he drove into the city.

They say the kidnappers beat him, and then
disappeared into the Palestinian refugee camp in
the city.

Israeli media quoted an Al Aqsa official as saying
his group seized the governor because he was an
Israeli collaborator responsible for what were
termed "crimes" against the Palestinian people.
The man, Zakariye Zubeidi, said the governor
should be tried by the Palestinian Authority.

There was a sense of growing anger among militants
because of recent actions by Palestinian security
forces in Jenin, in particular an attempt to
arrest an Al Aqsa gunman in the Jenin refugee
camp.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is a militant
offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat´s
Fatah movement.

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