Abdul Qader: Undercover Israeli agents kidnapped me

Published yesterday (updated) 14/10/2009 16:00

Jerusalem – Ma’an –

Israeli occupation government police released senior Fatah official Hatem Abdul Qader after arresting him at a military checkpoint on Tuesday night, while an Islamic Movement official remains in custody.

Abdul Qader said he was released with an order to submit to further interrogation by Israel’s Shin Bet (General Security Service) at 10am on Wednesday.

The former minister of Jerusalem affairs who still holds a portfolio on issues in the city, said he was questioned by Israeli officers about the recent demonstrations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and relations between Fatah and the Islamic Movement, a Palestinian group in Israel.

According to Abdul Qader, he and Islamic Movement leader Ali Shaikha were seized by undercover Israeli agents at the Qalandiya military checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah. He said officers disguised as motorists disabled his car and “kidnapped” the two officials. They were taken to Israel’s Russian Compound prison in West Jerusalem.

Ali Shaikha is still being held and likely interrogated, Abdul Qader said.

Israel’s Minister of Internal Security, Yitzhak Aharonovich, a member of the ultra-right-wing Israel Beiteinu party, called on the Knesset last week to arrest Abdul Qader and the leaders of the Islamic Movement for their role in the Jerusalem protests.

The two officials were both arrested earlier this month during the Palestinian protests against reported Israeli intrusions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Shaikha was one of the more than 100 Palestinians who barricaded themselves in the Al-Aqsa Mosque last week in an attempt to protect it from rumored Israeli attacks during the Jewish holidays.

Israeli occupation forces arrested Abdul Qader in March when he released hundreds of balloons in during the festival Al-Quds Capital of Arab Culture celebrating the Palestinian history of Jerusalem.