Qureia's daughter held up at roadblock, assaults security officers

Top Palestinian negotiator's daughter claims police detained her at checkpoint for no reason, beat her husband. Police: They were stopped for a security check

Ali Waked|Published: 11.14.07 , 21:37

After lead Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia was held up at an Israeli checkpoint near Jerusalem last week, his daughter Muna also complained of mistreatment at a police roadblock in the same region on Wednesday.

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Palestinians sources said that Muna, her husband and three of their children were stopped at temporary roadblock and detained for two hours. Her husband, they said, was also subjected to physical abuse from the Israeli officers.

Officials from the Judea and Samaria District Police said that security officers from Maale Adumim were unable to locate the vehicle's license plate number on the database of authorized cars and therefore conducted a search of the vehicle.

The policemen further grew suspicious after they compared the car's vehicle identification number to their database and found it was registered to another vehicle. Qureia's son-in-law was then asked by the police to accompany them to the nearby police station to sort out the discrepancy.

According to the police, after this exchange Qureia's daughter exited the vehicle and began shouting at the security officers, even kicking one of them. Police said that after her identity had been verified, Muna was informed she was free to go and did not have to accompany her husband to the police station.

The officers further said that while en route to the police station, the husband spoke incessantly on his mobile phone without using an earpiece - which is unlawful in Israel - and was therefore issued a citation for the violation upon arrival to the station.

After the husband complained that the police officers at the roadblock had beat him, he was directed to the Internal Investigations Unit and told to file a formal complaint so the matter could be looked into.

The Palestinians allege however that Qureia's daughter and children were also forced to come to the Maale Adumim police station and that after her father's chief of staff arrived at the station to demand her release - he too was physically attacked - despite the fact that he was being accompanied by an officer from the District Coordinating Office.

Last week, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni apologized to Ahmed Qureia after his team of negotiators was stopped at an IDF checkpoint north of Jerusalem on their way to a meeting with their Israeli counterparts as the two sides continue to draft a joint declaration for the Annapolis peace conference.