Palestinian planning suicide attack arrested in Jericho raid

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/686123.html

Last update - 21:16 25/02/2006

Palestinian planning suicide attack arrested in Jericho raid

By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies

Israeli security forces arrested two Palestinian militants on Saturday in a brief, but rare raid on the quiet West Bank town of Jericho, the army said.

One of the men, Sami Akilan, belonged to a militant faction of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, the army said. Security officials said Israel had repeatedly asked the Palestinian Authority to arrest Akilan, who was involved in the past in planning attacks on Israeli civilians, and recently was planning another.

The other man was brought in for questioning, the army said, without elaborating.


Israel transferred control of Jericho to Palestinian security forces last year under a broader agreement on the handover of five West Bank towns. But the transfers broke down, and Jericho is the only one of the five controlled by Palestinians.
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