JERUSALEM - Israeli troops raided the West Bank offices of the International Solidarity Movement on Thursday and seized a wanted member of the militant Islamic Jihad group, the army said.

The army said the man was being sheltered in the Jenin offices of the Palestinian-backed peace group whose members often act as human shields, placing themselves between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians.

An American activist with the group was killed on March 16 while trying to stop an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites). She fell in front of the machine, which ran over her and then backed up, witnesses said.

The group said it did not know the man was wanted. The army said the suspect was a senior member of Islamic Jihad who planned a number of attacks on Israelis which were foiled by Israeli security forces.

The army said two women with the group — one British and the other Canadian — tried to hide the man but the group's spokesman, Tom Wallace, said the two group members were not aware of the man's identity.

The army said that during a search of the four-story building — which also houses offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross, international medical group Medicins Sans Frontieres and the Bank of Palestine — troops found a pistol in the International Solidarity Movement premises.

Wallace said the man was unarmed and that any weapon was recovered.

Israeli officials are still investigating the bulldozer incident that killed 23-year-old Rachel Corrie, a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

Five Washington state Democrats are co-sponsoring a resolution that is calling on the State Department to investigate the death. A State Department spokesman has said U.S. officials want the Israeli government to investigate.

The Israeli army said an initial investigation showed the bulldozer incident was an accident but promised a more thorough investigation. Army officials have declined to say whether the bulldozer's operator is back on the job.

Email Story   Post/Read Msgs   Print Story Ratings: Would you recommend this story? Not at all 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 Highly