Israel Arrests 400 at Refugee Camp While Palestinian Court Orders Release Ahmad Saadat

Israel Arrests 400 at Refugee Camp While Palestinian Court Orders Release Ahmad Saadat
HIGHLIGHTS: Occupation Forces Enter Qalqilya||Israeli Cabinet Divided Over Rolling Raids on Palestinian Areas||Despite Release Order, No Sign Saadat was Leaving Jail|STORY: Israeli occupation troops raided a West Bank refugee camp Monday and rounded up about 400 Palestinians. (Read photo caption)

In Monday's raid, tanks surrounded the Ain Beit Ilma refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus, as jeeps and armored personnel carriers drove through the main street. Troops using loudspeakers called on all males between the ages of 15 and 50 to come out of their homes.

The occupation army has been searching for militants in Nablus and another nearby refugee camp, Balata, for the past three days. On Sunday, occupation troops blew up two houses where bomb laboratories were discovered, the occupation army claimed.

OCCUPATION FORCES ENTER QALQILYA

Armored vehicles also entered the West Bank city of Qalqilya on Monday and imposed a curfew, witnesses said. Troops arrested four suspected militants at a checkpoint outside the city and three others at the West Bank town of El Bireh.

In recent weeks, Israeli troops have been entering West Bank towns and villages, usually for short periods, to arrest suspected militants. But the sweep through Nablus was a larger operation with dozens of armored vehicles involved.

ISRAELI CABINET DIVIDED OF ROLLING RAIDS ON PALESTINIAN AREAS

In Israel's Cabinet, meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon clashed with the head of the Shin Bet security services, Avi Dichter, over army tactics, media reports said. Dichter told ministers Sunday that Israeli occupation troops should remain in Palestinian areas until a buffer zone between Israel and the West Bank has been built. Sharon said Israel's policy of quick incursions into Palestinian towns would continue

AHMAD SAADAT RELEASED

A Palestinian military tribunal on Monday ordered the release of Ahmed Sadat, the leader of a faction that claimed responsibility for the assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.

Sadat is being held in a West Bank jail under British and U.S. supervision, under an agreement reached last month in conjunction with the lifting of a blockade on the headquarters of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in Ramallah.

Despite the court ruling, there was no immediate sign that Saadat was being released.

Saadat heads the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a PLO faction that claimed responsibility for the Zeevi assassination in October.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's security forces detained Saadat and four PFLP members involved in the assassination several months after the Zeevi assassination.

When the Israel's occupation army launched an incursion into the West Bank town of Ramallah in March, the five men found refuge in Arafat's headquarters. At the time, soldiers took over much of Arafat's compound, confining him to a few rooms.

As part of a deal bringing about Arafat's release, Saadat, the four assassins and a suspected weapons smuggler were transferred to the West Bank town of Jericho, where they are being held under British and U.S. supervision.

A Palestinian security court, sitting in Gaza City, on Monday ordered Saadat's release, responding to an appeal by three lawyers. When the decision was announced, dozens of PFLP supporters waiting outside the court cheered.

The four Zeevi assassins had been convicted by a makeshift court in Arafat's headquarters in March and given sentences ranging from one to 18 years. Saadat himself was never charged or tried.

PHOTO CAPTION

Israeli occupation soldiers beside a Palestinian man told to leave his home, sitting on his front porch, during an Israeli sweep operation inside the Al-Ein refugee camp, in the West Bank city of Nablus, Monday, June 3, 2002. Since Friday, the Israeli occupation Army has virtually closed down Nablus, enforcing a round the clock curfew while, says Israel, wanted militants are hunted. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)

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