WEST BANK: ISRAELI ARMY CLASH WITH YOUTHS IN NABLUS, ARAFAT MEETS PEACE ACTIVISTS.
Record ID:
400830
WEST BANK: ISRAELI ARMY CLASH WITH YOUTHS IN NABLUS, ARAFAT MEETS PEACE ACTIVISTS.
- Title: WEST BANK: ISRAELI ARMY CLASH WITH YOUTHS IN NABLUS, ARAFAT MEETS PEACE ACTIVISTS.
- Date: 10th April 2004
- Summary: (W5) NABLUS, WEST BANK (APRIL 10, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: PALESTINIAN YOUTHS THROWING STONES AT ISRAELI ARMY JEEP 0.14 2. MV/GV: SOLDIER FIRING TEAR GAS FROM INSIDE VEHICLE; TEAR GAS DISPERSING CROWD (3 SHOTS) 0.49 3. LV/GV: MORE OF YOUTHS THROWING STONES (2 SHOTS) 1.03 4. GV: ISRAELI VEHICLE DRIVES AT YOUTHS, DROPS TEAR
- Embargoed: 25th April 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NABLUS & RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- City:
- Country: West Bank West Bank Palestine
- Reuters ID: LVA74V02XZHX12AUJMN0NBEVX6R0
- Story Text: Israeli Army conducts arrest raid in the West bank
city of Nablus.
Israeli army arrested six Palestinians during an
army raid on Saturday (April 10) in the West Bank city of
Nablus, Palestinian witnesses said.
The source added that all six detainees were civilians
and were taken to a military checkpoint in Nablus.
The army refused to confirm the arrests.
A few hours earlier clashes erupted in Balata refugee
camp between Palestinian youths who threw stones towards
the soldiers. The soldiers fired tear gas and rubber
bullets in return.
In Ramallah, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat
greeted peace activists during the Easter and Passover
holidays at his compound in the West Bank on Saturday
(April 10).
Arafat personally intervened on Friday (April 10) to
seek the release of the men who were abducted by insurgents
in Iraq and accused of spying for Israel.
"These two persons were working with international
agencies and we call upon those involved in Iraq to release
them immediately," Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian Minister of
Negotiation Affairs, said.
One captive identified himself on the videotape as
Nabil George Razuq, a resident of Israeli-controlled East
Jerusalem. His identity was confirmed by relatives.
Razuq's kidnappers displayed copies of his Israeli
identity card, drivers licence and other credit cards.
An Israeli official denied any government links to
Razuq and Ahmad Yasin Tikati. Razuq's family also denied he was an
Isra
eli agent and said he had gone to Iraq to help
fellow Arabs.
Israel issues the cards to Palestinians in East
Jerusalem, captured along with the rest of the West Bank in
the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move that is not
recognised internationally.
A New York based aid agency said one of the captives
who identified himself as Ahmed Yassin Tikati in a
videotape taken by the Iraqi kidnappers was actually Fadi
Fadel, a Canadian aid worker.
Ed Bligh, from the International Rescue Committee
(IRC), and an official from Canada's Department of Foreign
Affairs said one of the kidnapped men was Fadel an IRC
employee.
They could not explain why he used a different name in
the videotape taken by the kidnappers and broadcast on
Iranian television on Thursday (April 8).
Razuq is employed by Research Triangle International
(RTI), a North Carolina-based, independent non-profit
organisation that has a major reconstruction contract in
Iraq.
Adding weight to the possibility the second man was not
Tikati, Israeli newspapers reported that officials were
unable to find his name on the population registry.
In a videotape released amid a surge of bloodshed in
Iraq, the kidnappers demanded the "immediate release of all
the prisoners who belong to the religious factions (in
Iraq)".
Since Sunday (April 4), at least 41 United States (U.S.)
and allied soldiers and hundreds of Iraqis have been killed
in fighting. Sunni and Shi'ite rebels are holding three
Japanese and other foreign hostages.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None