Arab Member of Israel’s Knesset Ahmed Tibi confirmed Thursday afternoon in an interview with Israel Radio, cited by Haaretz daily, that he had on the previous day attended a meeting with a top official at the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also attended by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, MK Mohammad Barakeh.
The PFLP, which claimed responsibility for the October assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi, is on the US list of terrorist organizations.
According to Tibi the three and PFLP Deputy Secretary General Abed Al Rahim Mallouh discussed the political process, US Secretary of State Colin Powell's new Middle East initiative, and the state of the current cease-fire.
Tibi and Barakeh were quoted as saying that that Mallouh "is an important political leader." Tibi also stated that Mallouh is not connected to the assassination of Zeevi, killed by PLFP militants in mid-October. The MK added that according to his knowledge Mallouh is not on Israel's wanted list.
More than 40 PFLP members are still in PA jails in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, although two political leaders, Rabah Muhanna and Younis Al Jaru, were freed last week after the high court ruled their detention was illegal.
The PFLP is one of the main components of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), along with Arafat's mainstream Fateh faction.
The PFLP's armed wing said it assassinated Zeevi in response to the August assassination of their leader, Abu Ali Mustafa, in the first ever assassination by Israel of a chief of a Palestinian political party – Albawaba.com
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