DEBKAfile Exclusive: Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen has suddenly thrown open the Jericho lock-up and released 56 convicted terrorists from jail.
Among the men freed without prior notice are 26 Islamic Jihad members from northern and central Samaria, who plotted and masterminded suicide bombings in Hadera, Netanya, and Kfar Saba in 2005. Also released were 13 members of the PA General Intelligence Service, loyal to Col. Tewfik Tirawri, and 17 members of the PA Military Police – all of whom participated in terrorist attacks. | Guess this is part of the deal he made to keep breathing |
Abu Mazen thus renews Yasser Arafat's revolving-door policy for terrorists, while Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni call Hamas a terrorist organization and speak about the need to call Hamas a terrorist organization and fight terrorism.
ADDITIONAL: JERICHO, West Bank - Forty-six Palestinian militants who were wanted by Israel have been released from a Palestinian prison in Jericho, a Palestinian security source said on Thursday. Thirty-nine of them were affiliated with the radical movement Islamic Jihad, and had been sought by Israel for alleged involvement in attacks against the Jewish state. They walked free Thursday after spending between four months and two years behind bars, the source said.
Some had been arrested by Palestinian security forces after seeking refuge in the West Bank town of Jericho, while others were arrested elsewhere in the West Bank after they allegedly participated in attacks against the Jewish state.
Seven members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, loosely linked to Palestinian leader Mahmud AbbasÂ’s Fatah faction, were also released from the Jericho prison late Wednesday, the source said. The chief of Palestinian security services in Jericho, General Kamal Al Qaddumi, told AFP the prisoners had been released on the orders of Abbas and interior minister Nasser Yussef. Around 20 Al Aqsa militants remain in the Jericho prison. |