Thursday, the Israeli prosecution at the Jerusalem District Court decided to charge Ahmad Saadat, former Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and four other senior members of the PFLP who were abducted from the Jericho Central Prison, in suspicions of assassinating Rehavam Ze’evi, the Israeli tourism minister, in October 2001.
Israeli District Attorney, Eran Shender, and Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz, lacking evidence, decided in their deliberations not to try Saadat for involvement in the assassination of Ze’evi.
Both Saadat and Fuad Shobaki, a former senior financial man in the Palestinian Authority, will be tried in an an Israeli military court in the West Bank; their charges will be “smuggling weapons” and other security issues.
Meanwhile, an official at the Israeli Justice Ministry said on Thursday that the indictment of the four members would not bring an end to the investigation of the assassination of Zeevi, adding that Saadat might be charged with involvement in the assassination if further investigations reveals such involvement.
The Justice Ministry claimed it has enough evidence against the four members. but no evidence was found to implicate Sadaat.
The four; Hamdi Qar’an, Basil Al Asmar, Ahid Ghalama, and Wajdi Al Reemawi, will be tried at the Jerusalem Central Court.
