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Ahmad Sa'adat

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Ahmad Sa'adat (also transliterated from Arabic as Ahmed Sadat/Saadat, Arabic: احمد سعدات)(born 1954) is a Palestinian terrorist, and Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant Palestinian group.[1]

Saadat became the Secretary-General of the PFLP in October 2001. He succeeded Abu Ali Mustafa to the post, after Mustafa was assassinated by Israelis at his office in Ramallah in the West Bank. He stands for the dismantling of the Israeli state, opposes the Oslo Peace Process and believes in the right of return for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants back to the former British Mandate of Palestine.

He was imprisoned in Jericho by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in 2002. In March 2006 Israeli forces attacked the jail and took Sa'adat to Israel; he is currently in Israeli custody. Hamas has demanded his release, along with that of many other Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for the captured soldier Gilad Shalit. [1]

Sa'adat was accused by Israel of organizing the assassination of the Israeli Tourism Minister, Rehavam Zeevi, who was assassinated on October 17, 2001. He took refuge in the Muqata'a headquarters of PLO leader Yassir Arafat, who refused to hand him over to Israel. Israel, on the other hand, refused to back down from its arrest order.

After negotiations involving the US and the UK, an agreement was reached in between Israel and the PNA. Israel called off the siege of the Muqata'a, and Sa'adat was arrested, given a military trial and put in a Palestinian jail in Jericho, with a force of US and British guards overseeing his captivity. He was not allowed to run for political office, give interviews or address the public, although these bans were occasionally circumvented or ignored.

The Palestinian Supreme Court declared that Sa'adat's imprisonment was unconstitutional, and ordered his release, but the PNA has refused to comply. Amnesty International has declared that this, and the fact that he received an unfair trial, makes his detention illegal, and that he must either be charged with a crime and given due process, or released. [2]

On Tuesday, March 14, 2006, the US and Britain withdrew monitors from the Jericho jail where Saadat was being held. Israeli forces then launched Operation Bringing Home the Goods, surrounding the prison to prevent the escape of Saadat. In the ensuing stand-off, Palestinian guards left the prison but 200 prisoners refused to surrender.

After ten hours of shelling by Israeli tanks [3] - Israeli military forces took Sa'adat and five other inmates into custody. After his arrest, he was interrogated by the Israeli Shabak.

In December 25, 2008, an Israeli military court sentenced Ahmad Sa'adat, being the leader of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), to 30 years in prison for heading an "illegal terrorist organization" and for his responsibility for all actions carried out by his organization. [2]


References

  1. ^ "Militant group shuns Arafat". BBC. 2002-02-02.
  2. ^ "Israel sentences PFLP leader to 30 years in prison". YNET. 2008-12-26.
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