		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 30 April - 6 May, 1998 Issue No.375
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Human shield

PALESTINIAN police formed a human shield around Mohamed Abbas, head of the Palestinian Liberation Front, a small PLO faction, preventing Israeli border guards from arresting him at the Rafah crossing from Egypt to Gaza, AFP reported.

Abbas, accused of masterminding the hijack of the Achille Lauro cruise liner in which an American Jew was killed in 1985, has faced two earlier attempts by the Israelis to arrest him as he crossed the Allenby Bridge from Jordan to the West Bank.

Israeli security officials said there was a political decision to prevent Abbas from entering Palestinian territories. Palestinian security officials, on the other hand, contend that he holds a VIP card issued by the Palestinian Authority and approved by Israel .

The row led to the closure of the Rafah crossing point for two hours.