A new controversy emerged on Tuesday between Israel and the Palestinians after the Palestinian president said that the man behind the assassination of former Israeli minister Rehavam Ze'evi will be released from prison in Jericho. Israel plans to pull back from the city on Wednesday.
This Palestinian decision could potentially hold up the transfer of Jericho, which is set to begin Wednesday, Haaretz reported. The handover of West Bank cities to Palestinian security will include in later stages the city of Tulkarem.
The transfers of security authority were agreed in a late Monday meeting between Israel's Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, Haaretz reported.
Qalqilyah, the third town due to be moved to Palestinian hands, should be handed over later next week. At the Sharm el-Sheikh summit last week, Israel and the PA also agreed on the handover of Ramallah and Bethlehem.
Mofaz and Yousef reached compromise Monday night on the major points outstanding: The deployment of Israeli roadblocks around Jericho, and the inclusion of a nearby town in the handover. The two ministers also reached agreement over the fate of Palestinians wanted by Israel and currently residing in Jericho.
Abbas told Reuters that jailed PFLP leader Ahmed Sadaat would be freed, but following harsh comments by Israeli officials Palestinian sources were quoted as saying that there was no intention of releasing him.
Abbas added that in addition to Sadaat, who is believed to have ordered the assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi Fuad Shobaki, an aide to the late Yasser Arafat accused of involvement in the Karine A weapons boat affair in 2002, would also be freed from jail in Jericho.
However, Israel said, that it and the Palestinian Authority had agreed earlier that Saadat would remain in jail in Jericho.
Former Israeli Minister of Tourism Ze'evi was killed in October 2001 in Jerusalem. The PFLP claimed responsibility for the attack. A Palestinian court jailed the men, but the PA's supreme court later ruled that they should be freed. Palestinian officials said that they remained incarcerated in Jericho "for their own safety" to protect against an Israeli assassination attempt.
In the meantime, however, top Palestinian officials told the Israeli Prime Minister's Office Tuesday that there are no intentions to release the killers of Ze'evi. A spokesman for Prime Minister Sharon said the "killers cannot be released without agreement from the U.S., Israel and the Palestinian Authority."
