Published yesterday (updated) 11/08/2009 19:51
Gaza – Ma’an – Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmad Sa’adat has been transferred from Israel’s Ashkelon prison, on the coast north of Gaza to Ramon prison, inside the Nafha prison complex, also in southern Israel, according to a lawyer.
Attorney Buthayna Duqmaq, the head of the Mandela Institute for Palestinian prisoners, said that the transfer means that Sa’adat will likely be remanded to solitary confinement again.
Hundreds of Palestinian so-called “security detainees” are held at Ramon. Palestinians consider the inmates political prisoners.
The leftist leader went on a nine-day hunger strike in June in protest against his solitary confinement.
The Israel army seized Sa'adat in a raid on a Palestinian Authority prison in Jericho in 2006, where he had been held since 2001 over the assassination of Israel's right-wing tourism minister, Rehavam Ze'evi.
Sources: Sa'adat move related to potential prisoner deal
Published yesterday (updated) 11/08/2009 22:02
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel has transferred Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmad Sa’adat from one prison to another in preparation for a possible prisoner exchange, Israeli sources told Ma’an.
The sources said that Sa’adat was moved to Nafha prison, on the outskirts of the town of Mizpe Ramon, in the Negev Desert, from his previous location at a prison in Ashkelon, on the coast north of Gaza.
Israeli news service Ynet quoted Israel's prison service as saying Sa'adat was moved for "internal IPS [Israeli Prison Service]considerations."
This information emerges after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday evening. According to Israeli news reports, the two likely discussed a possible prisoner swap involving the release of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held in Gaza since 2006.
Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza, is demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in return for Shalit. Egypt has been acting as an intermediary in indirect talks between Hamas and Israel.
The Mubarak-Netanyahu phone call followed a statement by Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar, who is in Cairo currently, that no progress has been made in talks toward an exchange deal.
The Israel army seized Sa'adat in a raid on a Palestinian Authority prison in Jericho in 2006, where he had been held since 2001 over the assassination of Israel's right-wing tourism minister, Rehavam Ze'evi.
Attorney Buthayna Duqmaq, the head of the Mandela Institute for Palestinian prisoners, said that the transfer means that Sa’adat will likely be remanded to solitary confinement again. The leftist leader went on a nine-day hunger strike in June in protest against his solitary confinement.
Israel has engaged in prisoner exchanges with armed resistance groups in the past. A year ago Israel released five Palestinian and Lebanese fighters and the bodies of 200 slain fighters in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers who had been captured by Hizbullah.
