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Israel extends detention of lawmakers

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-15 02:04

An Israeli military court extended on Monday the detention of two West Bank Islamic Hamas movement's lawmakers for another seven months, Palestinian right sources said.

The sources said that although the 3-year detention of the two Hamas lawmakers, Nizar Ramadan and Azzam Salhab, has ended, the Ofer Israeli military court decided to extend their detention for another seven months.

Ramadan and Salhab as well as 38 Hamas lawmakers were arrested after Hamas movement's militants abducted the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in late June 2006, in an armed attack on an Israeli army base southeast of the Gaza Strip.

Around 14 Hamas lawmakers, including the parliament speaker Aziz al-Dweik were released. However, Israel still keeps in custody 24 others, and refuses to release them, according to the right sources.

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The arrest of the Palestinian lawmakers was one of the major reasons that apprehended the parliament from convening, in addition to the current political feuds between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.

Meanwhile, Hamas parliamentary block in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) condemned in a statement the renewal of the two lawmakers' detention.

"The continuation of keeping the lawmakers in the detention of the Zionist occupation would never weaken the movement. It is an ongoing policy to prevent Hamas from being politically active," said the Hamas lawmakers' statement.