Palestinian Journalist Khalid Amayreh Summoned for Interrogation by the PA Intelligence

Abbas's intelligence apparatuses summons Amayreh for interrogation

[ 24/02/2008 - 12:24 PM ]

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)--

The general intelligence of the PA in the West Bank has summoned Palestinian journalist and writer Khalid Amayreh for interrogation on Sunday for yet unknown reasons.

Relatives of Amayreh, who lives in Dora village near Al-Khalil city, said that he received a notification to the effect from Al-Khalil intelligence office.

Amayreh is a veteran Palestinian journalist and a vocal critic of the current "peace process" between the PA leadership in Ramallah and Israel.

He is among a few Palestinian journalists who write in English to a global audience. His articles and columns are published on numerous websites, especially those critical of the Israeli apartheid regime and the US policy toward the Palestinian plight.

Amayreh obtained a BA degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a Master's degree in the same field from the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale in the USA.

He lately drafted a proposed truce between Israel and the Gaza-based PA caretaker government in cooperation with Rabbi Mehachem Froman.

Israel has rejected the initiative as well as some PA officials in Ramallah who argued that lifting the blockade on Gaza would strengthen Hamas vis-à-vis the illegal Ramallah government.

Amayreh currently works as a correspondent for the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Weekly and his articles are published in dozens of newspapers and websites in various languages.

He also used to work as a correspondent for Al-Jazeera TV English section, the Iranian news agency, the Sharjah satellite channel and many other Arab and foreign media outlets.

The PA in Ramallah has been harassing journalists who report opposing views to those of the Ramallah government. In the past they have arrested the director of a local TV station because it aired the speech of Ismail Haniya, they also assaulted journalists who filmed a demonstration against the Annapolis conference in al-Khalil where the PA security killed one of the demonstrators.

More recently, the Presidential secretary Al-Tayeb Abdul-Rahim threatened to close down al-Jazeera office in Ramallah if the satellite station broadcasts a press conference held in Gaza by Said Seyam, former Interior Minister, about the conspiracy to assassinate PM Ismail Haniya, which was hatched in Ramallah, the station faced with these threats had to cancel its scheduled broadcast.

On Sunday, PA security forces violently dispersed the funeral procession of shaikh Majd al-Barghouthi, who died under torture in a PA prison in Ramallah, and threatened journalists covering the event and confiscated their cameras.

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