Firebrand Israeli Arab MP set to resign: report

Bishara, who is currently on a trip abroad, "will tender his resignation from the Knesset (parliament) on Tuesday," the Israeli Arab-language Assennara daily said on its Website.

According to the report, which was denied by his party, Bishara will submit his resignation in a letter through "one of his colleagues."

The report did not explain the reason for the surprise move by Bishara, who has drawn fire from Israeli authorities in the past over his positions and visits to Arab countries which Israel considers enemy states.

His party, the National Democratic Assembly, or Balad, denied "the inexact and untrue reports." No other party member was available for immediate comment on the report.

Bishara left Israel two weeks ago to attend meetings and has remained abroad even though he briefly returned to Israel last week to attend a wedding, the report said.

The 50 year old entered the Israeli parliament in 1996 as the head of Balad which was formed following the Oslo accords between the Jewish state and the Palestinians.

He has travelled several times to Syria where he met with President Bashar al-Assad.

Several weeks after Israel and Hezbollah ended their fighting in Lebanon last August, Bishara and two other Balad MPs carried out a controversial visit to Syria and Lebanon in defiance of an Israeli ban on such visits.

Israeli Interior Ministry Roni Bar-On ordered an investigation against the three for travelling to Syria without requesting a permit from authorities.

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