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Salah. 'Smiled at police scornfully'
Photo: George Ginsburg

Salah 'knew his arrest was political'

Leader of Islamic Movement's northern branch plans to appeal decision to deport him from Britain. 'Everything reported by the British media is a lie,' says man travelling with sheikh

The Islamic Movement's northern branch is planning a rally outside the British Embassy in Tel Aviv on Thursday, in protest of Sheikh Raed Salah's arrest during a visit to the kingdom.

 

Islamic Movement member Hasan Sanallah, who traveled to Britain with Salah, denied the claim that the sheikh had entered the country illegally.

 

 

"If it were true, they should have arrested me too, because we were together all along," he told Ynet. "Everything reported by the British media is a lie and is completely groundless."

 

Sanallah, a researcher in an Islamic Movement center in Umm al-Fahm, said that Salah was arrested by eight police officers waiting near his hotel room on Tuesday night.

 

He added that the sheikh "smiled at the police scornfully", as he knew the arrest was politically motivated.

 

"Today, the sheikh's lawyers asked the court to appeal his deportation from Britain, and the court said they could file the petition by July 6," he said, noting that Salah wished to remain in the kingdom until the end of his visit, as planned.

 

Sanallah said that Salah's remand was extended until July 6 and that his lawyers were planning to ask the court on Thursday to place him under house arrest.

 

According to British reports, Salah was arrested for entering the country although the authorities decided to ban his entry due to his radical opinions. The sheikh, who served prison terms in Israel for assaulting a police officer and contacting a foreign agent, took part in the Gaza-bound flotilla last year.

 

Before being arrested, Salah managed to address 500 Muslims in London about the influence of the Arab Spring on the Palestinians. He was planning to speak at an event at the British parliament as well.

 

Jewish group: Arab MKs' claims anti-Semitic

Earlier Wednesday, a series of Arab leaders and Knesset members slammed Salah's arrest, pointing a finger at Israel.

 

"The primary cause for the arrest is Israeli pressure and the pressure of Zionist elements inside Britain," said MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad).

 

Her criticism was shared by MKs Jamal Zahalka (Balad), Talab El-Sana and Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al), and Kamal Khatib, deputy leader of the Islamic Movement's northern branch.

 

But there are those in London who are satisfied with the authorities' move. A spokesman for the CST organization, which fights anti-Semitism and secures Jewish institutions and events in London, said that Jewish organizations in the British capital had expressed their concern to the government over Salah's visit.

 

He added that the British government made the decision to arrest and deport the sheikh, based on its policy that there is a clear distinction between the Islamic religion and Muslim extremists.

 

The accusations raised by Islamic movements that Jewish organizations have an affect on the British government, he said, are pure anti-Semitism.

 

Hagit Klaiman in London contributed to this report

 

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.29.11, 22:02
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