A senior Palestinian official called on a dozen fugitive Palestinian gunmen on Saturday to return to a local prison, where they had been serving time as part of an amnesty deal with Israel. The 12 members of the members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades fled the Palestinian-run Jneid Prison in the West Bank city of Nablus on Friday night, complaining that guards had pummeled them with clubs following a fight among the detainees.
The governor of the Nablus district, Jamal Muhaisen, appealed to the fugitives over a local radio station Saturday to return to prison voluntarily, citing concern for their safety. Under the amnesty deal, hundreds of Palestinian gunmen have been removed from Israel's wanted list, provided they renounce violence and serve time in Palestinian custody. Last month, a Nablus gunman who left prison for a day was shot dead by Israeli undercover troops.
In an interview with a local Nablus radio station, Muhaisen said the 12 would be safer if they returned to the prison. Muhaisen ended the conversation when the leader of the fugitives, Mahdi Abu Ghazaleh, came on the line. The governor said he didn't want to negotiate through a radio broadcast, the AP reported.
The fugitives been held at Jneid Prison since January. They complained that they were beaten with clubs by guards following a fight among detainees.
