Former fighter detained in Nablus

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- The Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the detention of one member, Steven Anabtawi, by Israeli forces on Wednesday, would secure the continuation of armed struggle and resistance.

Anabtawi, 23, was detained by Israeli forces outside of Nablus, which a statement from the Israeli military said was a violation of his pardon agreement.

As a Fatah fighter, Anabtawi was granted amnesty under a deal with Israeli forces, which saw him turn in his weapons and pledge to forsake an armed struggle against Israel. In return, the men were taken off Israel's list of "wanted" individuals, and could cease what was often a years' long period of hiding.

"Anbatawai was released from prison in the past as part of a pardon agreement, but has violated the terms of the agreement several times," the military statement said.

Current brigades leader Abu Al-Muntaser Omar condemned the Palestinian Authority for "putting pressure on the brigades, forcing them to hand in their weapons and join the security forces," and said the detention of Anabtawi proved that Israel did not respect the amnesty agreements that were signed.

"Israel understands the language of weapons only," he said, and called on brigades members to continue their fight against the occupation, and to refuse amnesty calls as a lie and a false promise.

In December, three former fighters in Nablus were shot dead during an overnight invasion by Israeli forces. Sources said two of the men were "killed in cold blood" by soldiers in their homes in Nablus' Old City. The two were identified as Raed Sakarji, 38, and Ghassan Abu Sharkh, whose brother Nayif was a former Al-Aqsa leader in Nablus and killed by the Israeli several years earlier.

Israeli army: Anbatawai violated terms

The arrest was made in the area of Al-Badhan, north-east of Nablus, an Israeli army statement said. It added that by leaving Nablus, Anbatawai was violating the terms of his amnesty agreement.

While in principal the amnesty pledge allows former fighters to return to civilian life, often only partial amnesty is granted, mandating former fighters to sleep in PA detention centers, or to remain inside prescribed areas, like Nablus city, or within zones demarcated as "Area A" under the Oslo Accords.

The Israeli army said Anbatawai was detained with a 20-year-old brigades member, identified as Wazir Isa, who was allegedly assisting Anbatawai in activities to resist Israeli forces.

Israel revokes amnesty of pardoned Fatah affiliate

Nablus – Ma'an – The Israeli government revoked the full amnesty granted to a previously "wanted" Palestinian for a partial agreement, sources said Wednesday.

Mahdi Maraqa, 33, from Nablus, and once affiliated to Fatah's paramilitary organization the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, will from Wednesday on be detained by Palestinian authorities at 8pm daily and spend the night in a detention center.

Additionally, the Palestinian Authority was been ordered to prohibit Maraqa from leaving area A, the only part of the West Bank under full Palestinian control following the Oslo Accords in 1993.

In accordance with Israel's amnesty offer to "wanted" Palestinian combatants, Maraqa was transferred to the PA Juneid Prison in Nablus in November 2008, and asked to hand in all arms and denounce Palestinian militancy. In return, those pardoned will not be subject to Israeli assassinations.

Following his term he was pardoned and given full amnesty in 2009.

PA detains Al-Aqsa operatives in Nablus

Nablus – Ma'an – Palestinian Authority security forces placed nine Fatah operatives into protective custody in the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Friday, detaining them in the nearby Al-Juneid prison, Ma'an has learned.

The men were once "wanted" members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's paramilitary wing, until they entered into an amnesty program and received pardons from Israel.

An informed security source said the arrests came amid indications from the Israeli military that it would take its "own procedures," which were not specified, in the event PA forces failed to detain all nine before midnight. PA officials interpreted the warning as a threat to reinvade Nablus, the site of an incursion last month that left three Al-Aqsa members dead, two of whom had received pardons beforehand.

Ma'an obtained the identities of the men, who all turned themselves in before the alleged deadline.

1. Mahdi Abu Ghazaleh
2. Omar Akuba
3. Saleh Abu Al-Hayyat
4. Zaki Anees Issa
5. Muntaser Anees Issa
6. Haytham Al-Masry
7. Muhammad Labada
8. Reda Tubela
9. Anwar Al-Mahrum

At least two of them, Mahdi Abu Ghazaleh and Omar Akuba, were partially pardoned as recently as two months ago along with 30 others, and it was not clear why Israel was insisting they be rearrested.

Approached by Ma'an, representatives of the Israeli military were not immediately able to comment.

A number of Al-Aqsa fighters voluntarily entered an amnesty program in which they signed an agreement swearing off armed struggle against Israel. Under the terms of the deal, each handed in their weapons in exchange for a guarantee from Israel that they would no longer be pursued for arrest or assassination. The assassinations last month, however, threw into question the program's legitimacy.

Last Sunday, another operative affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Brigades handed himself over to Israeli authorities. Imad Tayih, 22, from the Al-Far'a Refugee Camp near Tubas, had been "wanted" by Israel for over a year and a half. During his time as a fugitive, he survived targeted assassination attempts and was injured as a result on several occasions, according to his family.

He turned himself in at the Salim military base in Nablus late last Sunday, according to his cousin Faris, who observed that Tayih had been receiving a high volume of telephone calls from Israeli intelligence threatening to kill him if he did not give himself up.

Since the beginning of the second Palestinian intifada in September 2000, Israeli forces have assassinated more than 200 Palestinians with the use of air strikes, ambushes or undercover forces. As many as 400 bystanders were also killed in these attacks.

Faris explained that whenever his cousin would receive such a call, it was swiftly followed by attempts to ambush or abduct Tayih, adding that he had survived two assassination attempts and was injured nine times, recently including a critical gunshot wound to the spine. Unable to receive medical assistance and no longer able to bear the pain, Tayih handed himself in.

An Israeli military spokesman refused to comment on that arrest at the time.

Three weeks ago, Israeli forces assassinated three Palestinians affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Brigades in Nablus. The attack provoked an angry response from President Mahmoud Abbas, who threatened to scale back security coordination with the Israelis. The arrangements were already strained in late November when Israeli forces operating in Nablus and Salfit detained the commander and four officers of the PA Intelligence Services.

UPDATED list: Israel pardons 90 former Fatah fighters

Nablus – Ma’an Exclusive – Israel has agreed to remove 90 former Palestinian fighters from its list of “wanted” men on the eve of the Muslim Eid Al-Adha holiday, Palestinian sources said on Thursday.

The sources indicated that on Wednesday night the Palestinian Authority (PA) handed Israeli officials a list of 93 people it wants removed from the wanted list during a meeting.

Initial reports Thursday said Israel agreed to pardon 26 of the men, and ease restrictions on the movement and rights of others. Reports by Friday morning were that Israel had decided to pardon 90. Only eight of the total, however, received full pardons. Thirty-two received partial pardons, and the rest received "improvements" to their conditions.

Not all the men were fully pardoned. Of the initial 26, all of the men had to report to a PA compound and sleep there at night will now be able to sleep at home. Seven of the first round of pardons will be released from the PA’s Juneid prison, outside the West Bank city of Nablus.

Since 2007 former Palestinian fighters signed “amnesty” agreements in which they would hand in their weapons, swear not to fight, and spend a term in a PA jail in exchange for a return to normal life, free of the threat of arrest or assassination by Israeli.

One of the newly pardoned men was Ala Sanakreh, 29, of Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus, who is now working for the PA security forces. Israel agreed not to track or pursue him, making him fully pardoned. He told Ma’an he was elated at the news, and considered the decision a step toward peace.

Sanakreh was formerly one the most wanted men in the West Bank. He said he escaped several assassination attempts. The Israeli military killed his brother Ibrahim in 2006 and and another brother Ahmad in 2007.

“We, as Palestinians should be able to live freely like any other people around the world. We deserve to live a happy life,” he said.

Totally pardoned:

1- Ala Muhammad Ibrahim Sanakreh – Nablus
2- Yousef Khamis Hasan Abu Mustapha – Nablus
3- Muhammad Hussen Sa’id Zabaro – Nablus
4- Ayoub Khalil Musa Kin’an – Bethlehem
5- Muhammad Abdul Rahman Saleh Zeid – Ramallah
6- Ra’ed Muneer Muhammad Silama – Jenin
7- Ghaleb Ismail Muhammad Shafe’y – Tulkarem
8- Naser Ibrahim Salem Othman – Tulkarem

Movement without restrictions in Palestinian areas

9 - Louay Mahmud Musleh Eklik – Nablus
10 - Bassam Hasan Ali Abu Shallal – Nablus
11- Yassin Omar Ahmad Banat – Nablus
12- Yousef Khamis Hassan Abu-Mostafa – Nablus
13- Muhammad Sa’id S’oud Khaled – Nablus
14- Nael Sa’d S’oud Khaled – Nablus
15- Nidal Abdel-Fattah Yousif Mizher – Nablus
16- Abdel-Moneim Saleh Rajeh Sanakreh – Nablus
17- Na’im Saleh Rajeh Sanakreh – Nablus
18- Thaer Shaker Mahmud Mashi – Nablus
19- Saleh Abdel-Rahman Zaki Al-Ashkar – Nablus
20- Jamal Muhammad Mahmud Abu Ar-Rub – Ramallah
21- Kamel Taha Ahmad Ghannam – Ramallah
22- Ali Ibrahim Ali As-Sabah – Qafin
23- Wadi Ibrahim Abdul Latif Shadid – Tulkarem
24- Musheer Farouq Othman Mansoury – Tulkarem
25- Thafer Hassan Ali Eiran – Balata
26- Muhammad Ameen Musa Hammad – Jenin
27- Salim As’ad Salim Hussen – Jenin
28- Sa’id Mustafa Sa’id Mer’y – Kufur Dan
29- Hani Ahmad Anees Masad – Kufur Dan
30- Mu’ath Ahmad Saleh Saba’neh – Qabatya
31- Abdul-Salam Muhammad Aref Hanaysha – Qabatya

Partial relief (see details)

32- Mohammed Mazen Ma’moun Hanbali – Nablus
33- Ahmed Amr Muhammad Abu Salha – Nablus
34- Ghassan Ata Musa Abu Rish – Nablus
35- Saher Jaber Muhammad Hamayel – Nablus
36- Mithqal Subhi Fares Abu Salah – Jenin
37- Ahmad Sedqy Fayeq Qasem – Jenin
38- Sa’ed Thabet Muhammad Abu Obeid – Jenin
39- Yousif Mahmud Hussen Taleb – Jenin
40- Jalil Afif Hussen Sarhan – Jenin
41- Zakaria Afif Hussen Sarhan – Jenin
42- Maher Khaled Muhammad Haj Ali – Qabatya
43- Muhammad Safa Muhammad Kamil – Qabatya
44- Mubarak Alyan Muhamad Zedat – Hebron (must turn in his weapon)
45- Ali Rajab Ramzi Yumna – Yatta (must turn in his weapon)
46- Muhammad Othman Salman Abu Aram – Yatta (must turn in his weapon)
47- Hashem Muhammad Abdel-Majeed Azzam – Bethlehem
48- Nidal Odeh Hussen Malsh – Bethlehem
49- Mahmud Ibrahim Odeh Jubran – Bethlehem (must turn in his weapon)
50- Ala Kamel Musa Al-Hawareen – Ramallah
51- Tareq Ahmad Ahmad Skout Gaza-Ramallah
52- Muhammad Hussen Shalsh Zeid – Ramallah
53- Ala Ahmad Musa Sharaka – Ramallah
54- Khaled Abdel-Ra’ouf Sa’id Injas – Ramallah
55- Suleiman Naief Suleiman Hawareen – Ramallah
56- Munir Abdel-Raheem Muhammad Harb – Ramallah
57- Walid Ali Eid Dar Abed – Ramallah
58- Khaled Mussa Muhammad Hantsh – Ramallah (must remain in jail)
59- Fadi Atieh Muhammad Jawabra – Ramallah (must remain in jail)
60- Tareq Ziad Ali Abu Wazneh – Ramallah (must remain in jail)
61- Ahmad Mahmud Husen Ubed – Ramallah (must remain in jail)
62- Ibrahim Husam Ibrahim Abu Thaher – Ramallah (must remain in jail)
63- Luai Awad Muhamad Hosheh – Ramallah (must remain in jail)

Now permitted to sleep at home (as opposed to at the detention center)

64- Ibrahim Sa’id Issa Masemy – Nablus
65- Ahmad Hashem Muhammad Ramadan – Nablus
66- Nael Rebhy Abdul-Rahman Mansour – Nablus
67- Ammar Ibrahim Baker Kaddoumi – Nablus
68- Mohammed Nadi Muhammad Saleh – Nablus
69- Louay Muhammad Abdel-Qader Madeni – Bet Iba
70- Fathi Ahmad Fathi Ahmad Muna – Rojeeb
71- Yousef Hasan Muhammad Tayeh – Al-Far’a camp
72- Omar Ahmad Ali Sweilem – Nablus
73- Ahmad Walid Ismail Radwan – Qalqiliya
74- Abdullah Muhammad Abdullah Samhan – Qalqiliya
75- Jameel Mansour Ali Mansour – Salfit
76- Hazem Ali Ahmad Hamad – Jenin
77- Jaser Ameen Ibrahim Nazzal – Jenin
78- Ra’ed Salem As’ad Abu Srour – Jenin
79- Ahmad Walid Muhammad Ibrahim – Jenin
80- Majd Husny Alaf Abu Husen – Jenin Refugee Camp
81- Ragheb Sami Rajab Zeid Al-Keelany – Ya’bud
82- Zaher Ahmad Naji Subeh – Ramallah
83- Abdel-Kareem Hamed Shtaya – Ramallah
84- Majed Musa Muhammad Qattouf – Yatta
85- Wajd Hamed Abdel-Hady Al-Husseny – Bethlehem
86- Mu’ath Atef Mussa Abu Aker – Bethlehem
87- Muhammad Ahmad Abdullah Alqam – Qalandiya
88- Khaled Mahmud Ahmad Mateer – Qalandiya
89- Raby Theeb Nimer Ayyad – Qalandiya
90- unknown

Former Al-Aqsa fighters granted amnesty by Israel

Published yesterday (updated) 18/09/2009 22:59

 

[MaanImages]

Nablus – Ma’an Exclusive - Thirty former Al-Aqsa fighters with Fatah’s armed wing will be partially or fully pardoned Friday by Israeli military personnel, informed Palestinian sources confirmed.

Most of those set for pardon will be released from the Juneid prison west of Nablus. The former fighters voluntarily joined an amnesty program where they signed an agreement swearing off armed struggle against Israel and handed in their weapons in exchange for a promise from Israel that they would no longer be pursued.

The names will be announced officially after consultation with a US mediator, but preliminary names are released below. Of the 30, 10 were partially pardoned, 11 can sleep at their houses but must check in at PA headquarters according to a schedule, 7 are still under probation before being totally pardoned and 2 are totally pardoned.


1 - Alaa Nabil Ekob
2 - Salah Shaher As-Saka
3 - Nafez Mohamed Abdel-Hamid
4 - Hassan Ali Hassan Adas
5 – Muhammad Saber Marshoud
6 - Hosni As-Salaj
7 – Hassan Araisheh
8 – Mu’tasim Abdel-Gawad
9 - Hani Halawa
10 - Ghassan Abu Ar-Rish

Those who can sleep in their homes are:

11 - Amjad Anbatawi
12 - Maher Al-Fares
13 - Napoleon Abdo
14 - Mehdi Ekob
15 - Louay Aklik
16 - Omar Ekob
17 - Annan Sobh
18 - Shaukat Ba’arh
19 - Allam Ar-Ra’y
20 - Fahmi Raihan
21 - Ammar Ekob

Those with a semi pardon:

23 - Muhammad Al-Khalili
24 - Mahdi Abu-Ghazaleh
25 - Mohammed Jamil As-Sadr
26 - Siyam Kandil
27 - Ragheb Kaddoumi
28 - Fouad Al-Masri

Those fully pardoned include:

29 – Mu’tasem Abul Rabb
30 - Saber Al-Massimi

Two additional Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine member, Bilal Al-Ahmar and Ahmed Al-Mansi, received pardons as well but it was not clear what kind of pardon it would be.

Israeli High Court rejects a request to arrest former Aqsa Brigades fighters

Saturday August 08, 2009 02:55 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli High Court of Justice rejected an appeal filed by Israeli member of Knesset of the right-wing National Union Party, demanded the Court to order the arrest of former fighters of the Al Aqsa Brigades of Fateh movement.

Aqsa Brrigades emblem

Five former Aqsa Brigades fighters who were previously pardoned by Israel as a gesture of good will towards president Mahmoud Abbas are participating in the Fateh conference in Bethlehem. Zakariyya Zobeidy, who headed the Brigades, is among the five.

Ben-Ari and his aide Itamar Ben Gvir demanded stated in their appeal that the former fighters pose a threat to Israel’s security, but the court decided that Israel granted the former fighters a permit to head to Bethlehem to participate in the conference, and that they are only moving in Palestinian controlled areas in the West bank.

The two said that the army should arrest the fighter directly after they leave Bethlehem.

“They have bloody hands, they must pay the price”, the two right-wingers stated in their appeal, “the pardon they received was wrong and should be revoked”.

Two Israeli right-wing officials call for arresting five former Aqsa Brigades Fighters

Friday August 07, 2009 10:12 by IMEMC & Agencies

Two Israeli right-wing leaders, including a member of Knesset, demanded Israel to arrest five former fighters of the Al Aqsa Brigades, who participated in the Fateh conference in Bethlehem, and alleged that they are wanted.

Member of Knesset, Michael Ben Ari of the National Union Party (Ichud Leumi), and extremist right-winger Itamar Ben Gvir, Knesset aide to Ben Ari, demanded the arrest of the five former fighter, including Zakariyya Zobeidi, who led the Al Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fateh, in the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

The two Israeli right-wingers said that the fighters must be arrested directed after they leave Bethlehem when Fateh's general conference in concluded.

They filed an appeal to the Israeli High Court of Justice demanded a warrant to arrest the fighters, and said that 'they have blood on their hands''.

The two also said that Israel's decision to pardon them and several other fighters on the Al Aqsa Brigades as a gesture of good will towards the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, was a wrong move and should be voided.

Formerly "wanted" Fatah-affiliated fighters appeal for release

Published Saturday 25/07/2009 (updated) 26/07/2009 21:32

Bethlehem – Ma’an – A number of former members of the armed wing of Fatah have appealed to President Mahmoud Abbas to wrap up their cases and release them from prison, according to a statement on Saturday.

Israel and the PA initiated the amnesty deals in 2007. Under the agreement, former Palestinian militiamen agreed to turn in their weapons and spend time in prison, under house arrest, or on probation. In exchange, Israel and the PA promised that they would not be arrested or assassinated.

But several former members of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, from Jenin and Qalqiliya, said on Saturday that their cases have carried on years longer than they should have.

According to the former "wanted" fighters, they have been jailed seven times the agreed-upon length, and have not received benefits generally provided by the Ministry of Interior to other prisoners. The fighters demanded that their allowances be paid and threatened to carry out protests if their demands were not met.

The former militants who were detained in Qalqiliya were identified as follows:

1. Mujeeb Ahmad Mansour, detained two years
2. Jihad Mohammad Al-A’slawi detained two years
3. Ayman Khaled Noufal deatined two years
4. Shadi Abed Al-Latif Jum’a, detained a year and a half
5. Naser Aqal Radwan, detained 10 months
6. Shadi Abed Al-Hadi, detained 15 months
7. Mahmoud Nimer Metwali, detained 15 months
8. Abdallah Mohammad Samhan, detained 15 months
9. Samir Hassan Thiab, detained ten months
10. Baha’ Ad-Din Anwar Abu Kahlil, detained seven months
11. Ahmad Walid Radwan, detained ten months
12. Wael Mohammad Jbarah
13. Akram Abed Al-Karim Ishtewie
14. Sari Rebhi Radwan
15. Ahmad Hasen Jarbu

Meanwhile, the Al-Aqsa Brigades appealed to President Abbas to wrap up the issue of similar prisoners in Jenin, and to release them from PA detention centers or transfer them to the original site in which they were once held in Ramallah.

It also issued an appeal to publicize the former fighters' plight and those of other fighters once listed on the Israeli military's "wanted" lists. The group insisted it was not a party to lawlessness in the Palestinian territories and said that it on the contrary helps the PA's security departments maintain law and order.

Hamas captives condemn Abbas's militia for kidnapping freed captives

[ 17/07/2009 - 12:07 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Hamas captives, in Israeli jails, condemned the continued campaign by Abbas's militia against Palestinian resistance activists and in particular the kidnapping of Palestinian captives who have just been freed from Israeli jails.

The captives said in a statement, smuggled out of Israeli jails, that Abbas's security agencies continue unabated with their campaign of detention, torture and murder of Hamas's freedom fighters, activists and supporters.

The captives also said in their statement that it was indeed regrettable that those agencies wait for Hamas captives who are freed from Israeli jails on roadblocks to kidnap them before they reach their homes and families citing the case of Iyad Habib from Bethlehem, who was released from Israeli jails after spending two years in administrative detention to be kidnapped by Abbas's security before he reaches his home.

Habib was kidnapped by Abbas's militia as soon as he crossed the Daherya roadblock, even before he could say hello to his wife and little daughter who were waiting for him at the roadblock.

The captives stressed that such behaviour is alien to Palestinian society and held Abbas's security agencies responsible for the life of political detainees in their jails.

They also called on Palestinian factions to end their silence towards these crimes and to raise their voices against the targeting of resistance fighters by Abbas's forces.

Tulkarem commander releases Al-Aqsa Brigades member

Date: 28 / 06 / 2009 Time: 15:00

Al-Ashqar [Ma'anImages]

Tulkarem – Ma’an Exclusive – Commander of Palestinian security services in Tulkarem Misbah Al-Baba on Sunday released an Al-Aqsa Brigades member after 16 months of detention on Sunday.

The man was identified as Issa Al-Ashqar from the northern West Bank village of Sayda north of Tulkarem.

Al-Baba told Ma’an the release came after he received directives from the Palestinian interior minister, who explained that Al-Ashqar had received partial amnesty from Israel that enables him to stay in areas A, which are under control of the PA.

However, Al-Baba said he personally preferred that Al-Ashqar remain inside the Palestinian security compound because it is safer for him, yet Al-Ashqar's family exerted pressure on the Palestinian political echelon to release him.

For his part, Al-Ashqar explained that he will stay within the borders of Tulkarem, asserting that he is not afraid of being apprehended or even assassinated by Israeli forces who have attempted to do a number of times. Al-Ashqar’s father also said preferred that Issa remain in PA custody, but the son refused.

"Wanted activists" from Tulkarem complain about PA's mistreatment

Date: 16 / 06 / 2009 Time: 17:16

[Ma'anImages]

Tulkarem – Ma’an – Former Al-Aqsa Brigades fighters across the West Bank continue to wait as their amnesty deals remain unresolved, leaving large numbers of men in limbo.

Last week in a Tulkarem café, three former fighters in various stages of the amnesty deal sat down with Ma’an’s reporter to discuss grievances against the Palestinian Authority, who they say is not doing enough to resolve their cases.

Part of the issue is that those offered amnesty have been offered an array of different deals. In exchange for having their names removed from Israel’s “wanted” list, fighters all signed declarations saying they would renounce violence and handed in their weapons. That is where the consistency ends, however, as some have remained in PA protective custody and other remain in their homes; some were promised jobs in the PA police or security services but have not received salaries; others were promised reimbursement for their weapons and did not receive it.

For many, amnesty has been only partially delivered and former fighters are unable to continue with their lives.

All complain that they are being treated as “troublemakers” by PA security forces, even though it is the forces that are in charge of the former fighters because, as one man said, they are now “committed to the PA’s directives.”

During the conversation the fighters mentioned the cases of others, like Issa Al-Ashqar from the town of Sayda north of Tulkarem, who has reportedly been detained in solitary confinement and deprived of visits even though he has received “partial amnesty,” just like the men sitting around the table.

Another case that highlighted the uncertainty of the amnesty cases, was that of former fighter Bakr Sanyura, who had been detained, held and had not been reimbursed for his expensive weaponry which he willingly handed in when he accepted the amnesty deal.

The men said members from within Fatah have “attempted several times to interfere and bring to an end our suffering,” but the requests to the security services under the PA to deal more promptly with their cases have fallen on deaf ears.

The former fighter also said local governor of Tulkarem Talal Dweikat, who they “consider their coordinator,” has done his best to work out a solution, but without success.

“Wanted activists are our children and it is our duty to protect and embrace them,” Dweikat said, “since the Israeli occupation is still after them.”

Israel to pardon 25 Al-Aqsa members in PA protective custody

Date: 16 / 06 / 2009 Time: 14:10

[ma'anImages]

Nablus – Ma’an exclusive – Israeli authorities will pardon 25 members affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank who are currently under Palestinian Authority protective custody, security sources said Tuesday.

The decision to pardon the 25 came following a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian security personnel Monday evening.

Most of the men, all listed as “wanted” by Israel, have been waiting for their official pardon for more than a year after turning themselves in to PA protective custody in a deal that sees Israel promise to cease pursuing them in return for a signed statement saying they will give up resistance activity.

A PA security source said the men would be released to the custody of their families as the official releases go through.

A partial list of the men being pardoned is as follows:

1- Fayez At-Tirawi, total release.
2- Tareq Suleiman, total release.
3- Fadi Al-Shawwa, total release.
4- Muhammad Mansour, to remain at home.
5- Ja’far As-Samhan, to remain at home.
6- Ashraf Az-Zreiqi, to remain at home.
7- Muhammad Al-Khalili, to remain at home.
8- Tha’er Dudin, to remain at home.
9- Thyab Hijjah, to remain at home.
10- Saber Al-Msimi, to remain at home.
11- Yasin Hamad, partial release.
12- Rashad Bilal Hassan Abed, partial release.
13- Yousef Tayeh, partial release.
14- Muhammad An-Nady, partial release.
15- Khaled Darwish, partial release.
16- Iyab Al-Aynabousi, partial release.
17- Nidal Hamdy, partial release.
18- Azmi Rajab At-Taqtouq, partial release.

Ex-Aqsa fighters in Amnesty program seek end to 16-month imprisonment

Date: 25 / 04 / 2009 Time: 18:34

[Ma'anImages]

Nablus - Ma’an - A group of ex-fighters taking part in Israel’s amnesty deal demanded on Saturday that their files, now 16-months-old, be completed so they can finally leave the Palestinian Authority Prison they committed themselves to and return to normal life.

The men, all former members of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, signed a renunciation of violence agreement and turned in their weapons when they voluntarily entered the Juneid Prison west of Nablus 16 months ago.

Since then they have waited for their official pardons to be granted from Israel, so they can stop living undercover and return to live with their families.

The men sent a collective appeal to Ma’an News Agency and asked the Palestinian side to pressure Israel into putting a close to their cases. There has been no indication, however, as to whether or not the new Israeli government will honor the deal struck with the fighters and the Olmert administration.

Those who signed the appeal were:

1-Husni Suleiman AS-Salah
2-Mohammad Tayseer Mohammad Melhem
3-Hasan Abd Al-Fattah A’reiysha
4-Mohammad Fathi Abd Ar-Rahman Mansour
5-Haitham Mohammad Lutfi Te’mah
6-Mohammad Saber Hammad Marshud
7-Nedal Nader A’del Suleiman
8-Sabri Mohammd Sabri Al-Kurdi
9-Yousef Hasan Mahmoud Tayeh
10-Ali Issa Mansour Nassar
11-Khaled As’ad Abed Al-Wahhab Darwish
12-Mohammad Mustafa Mohammad An-Nadi

Jailed former Al-Aqsa Brigades fighters ask PA to release them

Date: 29 / 03 / 2009 Time: 21:44

[Ma'anImages]

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Seven former Palestinian fighters jailed as a part of a deal with Israel appealed to the Palestinian Authority (PA) for their release on Sunday.

The men are former member of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, and have been held in the PA security compound in Bethlehem for a year after signing agreements to renounce armed struggle in exchange for a “pardon” from Israel. Under the amnesty deal between the PA and Israel, fighters agree to spend time in prison before they are pardoned.

One of the men, Hadi Da’dara, said they are still waiting for Israel to issue the pardons. They directed their appeal at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to intervene and resolve their ordeal.

They also called the Palestinian interior minister, Abdel Razeq Al-Yahya, to assist them.

The men were identified as: Ziyad Mizher, Khalil Obeiat, Mu’ath Abu Aker, Shadi Abu Jalghif, Hadi Da’dara, Muhammad Ramadan and Jamal Jibrin.