Site of assassinations - Bethlehem
Photo: AP
Palestinian collaborator sentenced to death
Palestinian security official convicted of assisting Israel gets death sentence
A Palestinian security official was sentenced to death Wednesday by a Palestinian Authority military court in Bethlehem after being convicted of collaboration with Israel.
The court ruled that the man, who served in the PA's General Intelligence Service, will face execution by a firing squad. He was convicted of involvement in the assassination of three members of the Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in 2002.
The three were killed by Israeli forces in a refugee camp near Bethlehem.
According to Palestinian investigators, the security official was recruited by Israeli intelligence agents in 1999 while working as a gas station's attendant. The man's name was banned from publication.
A short time after agreeing to help Israel, the man apparently joined the Palestinian security establishment.
The convicted collaborator confessed to the charges against him during interrogation. He said that he also took part in monitoring Palestinian stone-throwers. The man was also convicted of accompanying Israeli security forces during arrest operations targeting wanted Palestinian suspects.
The death sentence will be carried out after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will sign the execution order.
