Sheikh Hamed al-BitawI. Detained
Photo: AFP
Nayef Rajoub. Beaten
Photo: AFP
Senior Hamas figure questioned before Jerusalem prayer
Palestinian sources say Sheikh Hamed al-Bitawi arrested on his way to al-Aqsa Mosque; police say he was detained, released after interrogation
Senior Hamas
figure Sheikh Hamed al-Bitawi was arrested Friday afternoon while making his way to a prayer service at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Palestinian sources reported.
A Jerusalem Police official said Bitawi was detained for questioning and released after an interrogation session.
The Sheikh's relatives said he was arrested by the police and was not allowed to talk to them.
Impasse
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Bitawi, a Nablus resident, has been arrested by the Israel Defense Forces several times in the past following the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Meanwhile, as part of the struggle between Fatah and Hamas and the accusations that the Palestinian Authority has launched a war on Islam, the Hamas movement said Friday that the PA's security organizations had assaulted Nayef Rajoub, the brother of senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub.
Rajoub, a former religious affairs minister in the Hamas government in Gaza, was released and two months ago from an Israeli jail, where he had been held since being arrested after the Shalit abduction.
According to Hamas, Palestinian security officers raided a mosque in the West Bank village of Dura, near Hebron, where Rajoub was planning to deliver a sermon.
According to a Hamas spokesman, the PA's security officers beat him and prevented him from delivering the sermon. They also dispersed the worshippers and did not let them hold the Friday prayer.
In a separate incident in another village, Hamas said, Palestinian security officers drove away another Hamas parliament member and wouldn't let him deliver the Friday sermon.
Hamas accused the PA of engaging in a war on Islam, even during the holy month of Ramadan.
Ronen Medzini contributed to this report
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