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| Middle East |
| Israel Bans 13 Palestinian MPs from Session |
| 2002-10-28 |
| Israel decided to ban 13 Palestinian deputies from attending a parliamentary session Monday in Ramallah where Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is to name his new cabinet. The 88 MPs are to convene in Arafat's battered Ramallah headquarters and vote on a confidence motion on the new cabinet. "For reasons of security, 13 Palestinian deputies will not be authorized to attend the parliamentary session in Ramallah on Monday," an Israeli government spokesman, Ofir Khakham, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). Tough, when you have to worry about the occasional MP exploding. More likely they're worried about them meeting face-to-face with the guys who organize other people exploding... But he did not identify those refused authorization, and did not elaborate on those reasons of security. The announcement comes a day after Palestinian deputy speaker Ibrahim Abul-Naja said Israel had promised to allow all Palestinian deputies to attend Monday's session. Guess he meant all of them who aren't on the list... Israel banned 14 Gaza deputies from attending a previous session last month, but the Palestinian parliament still met Monday, September 9, in Ramallah, despite the Israeli attempt to foil the session by denying the 14 Gaza-based members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) passes to travel to the West Bank. The 14 banned Gaza members included late MP Wajeeh Yajee and another resigned MP. The Gaza deputies instead participated by video link-up. If Wajeeh's dead, I guess it's understandable they banned him. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |