MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Prime Minister Olmert says Israeli raid on a Jericho Prison compound was "inevitable" while Palestinian President Abbas calls it an unforgiveable crime / Four remaining hostages freed

Record ID: 872733

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Prime Minister Olmert says Israeli raid on a Jericho Prison compound was "inevitable" while Palestinian President Abbas calls it an unforgiveable crime / Four remaining hostages freed
  • Date: 16th March 2006
  • Summary: (BN09) GAZA CITY, GAZA (MARCH 15, 2006) (REUTERS) PALESTINIANS GATHERED AROUND BODY OF MEMBER OF POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE (PFLP) WHO WAS KILLED ON MARCH 14 AND ESCORTING BODY TO VEHICLE MAN HOLDING FLAG GUNS BEING FIRED INTO AIR
  • Embargoed: 31st March 2006 13:00
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  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA9WIRGU3NV1VJQSBMMT91T6YCJ
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  • Story Text: After a tour of the Israeli police headquarters in Jerusalem on Wednesday (March 15) Israel's interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the Jericho raid was "inevitable".
    "Once the inspectors were pulled out against the background of the international agreements - signed - which we were a partner - and the Palestinian Authority was a partner - it became inevitable that we will try and bring to justice the six suspects who were arrested in Jericho, being ministers of a group that assassinated Minister of Tourism,"Olmert said.
    While Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held Great Britain and the United States responsible for what he called an Israeli raid, and a breach of contract by the U.S. and Great Britain, Olmert placed the blame on the Palestinian Authority.
    Abbas called Israel's raid a crime that would not be forgiven.
    Speaking during a visit to the destroyed jail, Abbas said the raid was a blow to the Palestinian Authority.
    "What happened without a doubt is an ugly crime which can not be forgiven and a humiliation for the Palestinian people and a clear violation of all the agreements which took place between us and them. From here we don't only condemn but we consider this more an ugly crime which has led to what it led to. Now kidnapping Saadat and Shobaki and their brothers is illegal," Abbas said, referring to Saadat and other militants detained.
    Palestinians took their protests over the raid that captured Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmed Saadat and five other men wanted by Israel, to the streets.
    Noisy demonstrations across the West Bank and Gaza took place and many towns closed their shops in a protest strike at the Israeli raid.
    Sporadic violence erupted in the city of Bethlehem in which Palestinian youth threw stones at Israeli troops in the West Bank city near Rachel's tomb. The Israeli army shot tear gas canisters and rubber bullets, no injuries were reported.
    Later, the four remaining foreign hostages kidnapped during a wave of violence in the Gaza Strip were freed on Wednesday.
    Two French nationals, a Canadian and a South Korean were taken on Tuesday (March 14).
    The four, all journalists, were among nine foreigners snatched in Gaza and the West Bank. The others were freed shortly after their capture.
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