Israeli police arrests two Arab residents accused of “security violations”

Thursday August 28, 2008 21:42 by Saed Bannoura - MEMC & Agencies

The Israeli Police and the Internal Security Services announced that they arrested two Arab residents of Israel, residents of Shfa-Amr Arab town, and claimed that the two “conducted security violations”. The two were arrested more than three weeks ago but a gag order on the case barred any leaking of information to the media.

Husam Khalil

The two were identified as Anis Safoury and Husam Khalil. Te police claims that the two joined a cell which belongs to the Islamic Jihad in Ramallah, and that this cell was in an advanced stage of planning attacks against Israeli targets, including attacking a military roadblock.

Israeli is also charging the two of illegal possession of weapons, and training in order to attack a military roadblock. The two are further accused of contacting Islamic Jihad leaders in Syria.

Khalil, 19, who is studying Electrical Engineering in Jordan, was described as a person who could help in transferring money from Jordan to the claimed cell, while Safoury is charged of contacting members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Ramallah, and West Bank figures who are considered loyal to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah party.

Khalil was arrested on the Jordan-Israel border on August 8, while Israeli policemen broke into his home and searched it.

One week earlier, the police arrested Anis, 20, a student at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah.

Khalil, the father of Husam, told the Arabs48 news website that his son denied the Israeli allegations made during interrogation.

He said that these charges are part of the Israeli government's incitement against the Arabs and its ongoing attempts to label them as criminals.

Rawia Shanty, the mother of Anis, said that these charges are  false and aim at framing her son who spends a minimum of ten hours a day in the university and at Ramatan Media Agency.

She told the Arabs48 news website that when Anis was 18 years old, he was interrogated by the police for 5 hours. She said that these violations are acts of harassment as she and the father of Anis are politically active. 

The Arabs48 website also interviewed Riyadh Anis, the lawyer of Husam, who denied all of the Israeli allegations and said that Husam never obtained weapons, was never military trained, and was never involved in any planning for attacks or any actual attacks. 

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