Jericho prison attack 'unforgivable' - Abbas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday toured the devastated Jericho prison where Israel spirited away six prisoners, denouncing the raid as an ”unforgivable crime".

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the six Palestinians, including Ahmed Saadat, leader of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, will face trial. “They will be indicted according to Israeli law and they will be punished as they deserve,” he said.

British and American officials have said that they had complained repeatedly about security conditions at the prison and threatened in a letter last week – a copy of which was sent to Israel – to remove the monitors if things did not improve immediately.

Abbas acknowledged that the foreign monitors had informed him of their intention to leave, but said they did not give a departure date.

US White House press secretary Scott McClellan reiterated yesterday that the US and the United Kingdom had expressed concerns to the Palestinian Authority ”about the safety and security of our monitors there.” “They (the monitors) left at 9:20 a.m., and the Israelis came in at 9:30 a.m. How can we explain that?” Abbas said.

Abbas, who cut short a trip to Europe yesterday to deal with the crisis, suggested there was close co-ordination between foreign guards watching the prisoners and Israeli forces. He said Israeli troops arrived 10 minutes after foreign monitors left Jericho.

“What happened is an unforgivable crime and an insult to the Palestinian people,” Abbas said as he toured the complex.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz denied that Israel co-ordinated the raid with the foreign monitors – or that it was an election stunt to boost the prestige of Olmert. The election is March 28.

The PFLP claimed responsibility for the 2001 assassination of Israeli Cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi in Jerusalem, saying it was retaliation for Israel’s killing of its leader several weeks earlier.

In the 10-hour siege on Tuesday, Israeli forces battered the prison with tank shells and bulldozers until the prisoners surrendered.

Besides the five PFLP prisoners, Israel seized Fuad Shobaki, the alleged financier of a 2002 seaborne weapons shipment to the Palestinians. Israel intercepted the ship.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who lives in Jericho, accompanied Abbas on his inspection.

“This was a severe blow to the Palestinian Authority and to Abu Mazen (Abbas) personally,” Erekat said, blaming Israel. “We don’t accept any of the blame being thrown into our faces.”

Saadat and four PFLP activists Israel says were involved in the killing of Zeevi in October 2001 were originally arrested by Palestinian police. A makeshift court in then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s West Bank compound sentenced the four to prison terms ranging from one to 18 years, as Israeli forces encircled Arafat’s compound.

Under an internationally brokered deal to end that siege, Saadat and the others were transferred to Jericho, where US and British inspectors were to supervise their imprisonment.