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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Charges on Salafi group involved in Gaza mosque take-over dropped |
| 2009-12-20 |
| [Ma'an] The de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh instructed the Gaza Ministry of Interior and security forces throw out the charges on activists with Jund Ansar Allah, the Salafi group involved in an August take-over of the Rafah Mosque. A show-down between Hamas and Jund Ansar Allah forces killed 22 including three children, and saw leaders of the movement who sought to declare an Islamic emirate in Gaza, killed or detained. De facto government officials promised to release the remaining members from prison ahead of both the Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha holidays. On Saturday Haniyeh ordered the four-month-old file to be destroyed for the sake of Palestinian unity. The statement announcing the policy shift came following the de facto prime ministers visit to a Gaza prison where the ultra-Islamist members were being held. He said the move showed the keenness of his government to respect the national rights of the people of Palestine and respect commitment to Islamic values. Hours before the statement was released, sources in Gaza said Haniyeh called off an all-factions meeting to which all factions from the West Bank and Gaza had been invited to discuss unity. A Hamas official said Haniyeh had to deal with an "emergency" and would have to postpone the meeting set for Sunday. |
| Posted by:Fred |