Israeli Minister of Public Security Gideon Ezra said on Tuesday that the
decision to conducta raid on a Jericho prison was made by Acting Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.
Ezra said that the raid was aimed to transfer some
Palestinian militants jailed in the prison in the West Bank town of Jericho to
an Israeli prison, including Ahmed Saadat, leader of the leftist Popular Front
for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Saadat was accused by Israel of ordering the
assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001 and has been
held in the Jericho prison since August 2002.
Ezra said that the military move came after Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas said last week that he was prepared to free Saadat.
Defense Minister Mofaz has vowed to kill or arrest Saadat if
he was released.
Earlier in the day, Israeli troops backed by dozens of army
vehicles and two helicopters surrounded and broke into the Jericho prison,
demanding the surrender of Saadat and other five militants.
