One killed and dozens hurt in Israeli prison riot

[Greg]

One killed and dozens hurt in Israeli prison riot
Agency France Presse

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Violent clashes flared at an Israeli jail on Monday, killing one injuring dozens of Palestinian inmates as well as prison guards armed with tear-gas and batons, officials on both sides said.

Palestinians protested the incident, which they said highlighted the unjust treatment of prisoners, with the Palestinian Authority condemning the violence and the rival Islamist Hamas movement holding a demonstration in the West Bank.

The Prisoners Club, the main group representing Palestinians held in Israel, said the clashes broke out at Ketziot prison in the southern Negev desert after guards started what it termed "provocative" cell searches.

Palestinians responded by hurling objects at the guards, who fired rubber bullets and used tear-gas and batons to disperse the protest, said the Prisoners Club, claiming that up to 200 inmates were injured.

Mohammad al-Askar, 26, later died from his injuries at a hospital outside of Tel Aviv, a medical official said. He had just two months left to serve on a five-year prison sentence.

Prisoners Club chairman Qadura Fares described the situation at Ketziot, where around 2,000 Palestinians are held, as "serious".

A spokeswoman for Israel's prison service confirmed that clashes began when guards tried to search a tented area where 1,000 Palestinians are being held.

Inmates set fire to tents and threw objects at the advancing jail guards, who used riot dispersal methods to control the unrest, Yarona Zamir told AFP.

Fifteen Palestinians were injured, four of whom were taken to hospital. Another 15 Israeli guards were hurt, one of whom was hospitalised, she added.

The Club said the 11,000 Palestinians held in Israel would go on hunger strike from Tuesday to protest against "repression" at Ketziot.

The Islamist Hamas movement called hundreds of people into the streets in the southern West Bank town of Hebron to protest the incident.

Around 400 people turned out for the demonstration, but Palestinian police loyal to president Mahmud Abbas dispersed the crowds by firing in the air, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.

The protestors, mostly Hamas supporters, responded by hurling rocks at the police, but no one was injured.

Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina meanwhile denounced what he called "Israeli aggression" against Palestinian prisoners.

"The prisoners issue should be closed as quickly as possible, otherwise the peace process can't move forward," he told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Copyright © 2007 AFP. All rights reserved.

[graystoke13]

Kill all Hajis and let GOD sort them out.

[Hack]

Considering that a lot of the Palestinian prisoners, (so called), would have killed Israelis, they should be thankful to be alive. Of course, some of them are most likely failed attempts at using themselves as human bombs, so they wouldn't want to be alive as a failure anyway.