July 31, 2000

Detained Hamas Leader Accused of Sedition

GAZA (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority accused a leader of the militant Islamic Hamas group Monday of ``defamation, incitement and sedition'' for his remarks on Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking.

It said Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi had accused the authority and its negotiating team of ``treason and spreading lies'' and of ''ceding Palestinian national rights'' during the U.S.-brokered Camp David peace summit which ended last week without agreement.

''Dr. Rantissi's statement harms directly Palestinian internal security, especially as it comes amid critical circumstances in which the Palestinian cause is passing,'' said Khaled al-Qidra, the attorney general for the Palestinian Authority's security courts.

Qidra denied Rantissi had been arrested on charges related to freedom of expression. He said questioning was under way.

``It is a state security crime. We arrested him for spreading false information aiming to spread sedition and mislead the public,'' he told a news conference.

Palestinian police arrested Rantissi, an outspoken critic of the Middle East peace process, early Sunday at his home in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.

Rantissi called in a demonstration last week for Palestinian negotiators and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to quit talks with Israel and ``to return to the path of jihad,'' or Islamic holy struggle.

Hamas leaders condemned the arrest.

``I am sorry and sad to see that in our Palestinian community there is someone who would explain freedom and expression and other people's opinions as incitement and lies,'' Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin told Reuters Monday.

``I reject this completely and I say that every Palestinian has the right to express his opinion regarding every event on the Palestinian arena because it is his own future, the future of his children and the future of his homeland.''

Hamas vowed that the arrest would reinforce its commitment to jihad and its opposition to peace moves with Israel.

Israel has demanded that Arafat maintain control over Hamas, which Israel holds responsible for a series of bombing attacks that resulted in the deaths of scores of Israelis.

Rantissi had been arrested previously for speaking out against the peace process, and was released in February after 21 months in prison.