Palestinian militants suspend jail hunger strike
Reuters
Date: 05-24-05
RAMALLAH, West Bank, May 24 (Reuters) - Nine militants held by Palestinian security forces over a suicide bombing in Israel suspended a hunger strike on Tuesday after Palestinian lawmakers promised to look into their demands, officials said.
The Islamic Jihad members have been held without charge since their arrest shortly after the Feb. 25 bombing that killed five Israelis at a nightclub in Tel Aviv.
The militants set aside their four-day-old hunger strike after being visited by legislators who promised to discuss their case with Interior Minister Nasser Youssef, members of the lawmakers' group said.
"These guys were arrested illegally without warrants and without the pressing of charges," lawmaker Hatem Abdel-Qader, from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, told Reuters.
Another Fatah lawmaker, Qaddoura Fares, said the prisoners had agreed to shelve their protest for 10 days to await the outcome of talks with Youssef.
The Tel Aviv attack has been the only suicide bombing since Palestinian militants agreed to a de facto ceasefire at Abbas's behest early this year, suspending a 4 1/2-year revolt, to give him a chance to start peace negotiations with Israel.
Relatives said the nine prisoners denied any involvement in the bombing and accused the Palestinian Authority of "appeasing Israel" by keeping them behind bars.
Abbas, under pressure to ensure the fragile ceasefire is honoured, vowed to do all he could to track down those responsible for the attack.
Thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails during an uprising that broke out in 2000 have often used hunger strikes to demand better conditions.
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