Published Sunday 25/10/2009 (updated) 26/10/2009 10:16
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Muhammad Issa Abu Ghaniyya, born in 1953, missing since 1969, and presumed dead for decades, may have been seen alive in an Israeli prison, according to his family.
Relatives told Ma'an on Sunday that several recently released prisoners swear they remember Abu Ghaniyya, who was left for dead during an operation near the northern Israeli town of Bisan (Beth Shean in Hebrew) in July 1969.
Abu Ghaniyya's family now believes he was held in Karmonid prison, between Ramla and Lod, before being transferred to Safad jail.
The family also said a former Palestinian prisoner, currently in Jordan, saw Abu Ghaniyya's photo, and insisted he saw the man in jail and spoke to him. The prisoner said Abu Ghaniyya was in a wheelchair and held primarily in solitary confinement for the past 40 years.
His relatives appealed to Palestinian factions, the Palestine Liberation Organization, to the Palestinian Authority, and to the Ministry of Prisoners Affairs to follow up with the case and return with a definitive answer.
Abu Ghaniyya was a fighter in the Palestinian Liberation Forces, a PLO member faction, where he was known as "The Sheikh."
Relatives told Ma'an on Sunday that several recently released prisoners swear they remember Abu Ghaniyya, who was left for dead during an operation near the northern Israeli town of Bisan (Beth Shean in Hebrew) in July 1969.
Abu Ghaniyya's family now believes he was held in Karmonid prison, between Ramla and Lod, before being transferred to Safad jail.
The family also said a former Palestinian prisoner, currently in Jordan, saw Abu Ghaniyya's photo, and insisted he saw the man in jail and spoke to him. The prisoner said Abu Ghaniyya was in a wheelchair and held primarily in solitary confinement for the past 40 years.
His relatives appealed to Palestinian factions, the Palestine Liberation Organization, to the Palestinian Authority, and to the Ministry of Prisoners Affairs to follow up with the case and return with a definitive answer.
Abu Ghaniyya was a fighter in the Palestinian Liberation Forces, a PLO member faction, where he was known as "The Sheikh."
