RAMALLAH, 21 August 2006 — The Israeli Army yesterday detained the Hamas secretary of the Palestinian Parliament, Mahmud Al-Ramhi, according to an AFP correspondent on the scene. Rahmi, the fourth-ranking official in the Palestinian legislature, was detained at his home in El-Bireh, a town near Ramallah. He is the latest in a string of top Hamas officials, including ministers, detained by Israel.
Meanwhile, an Arab youth heckled Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday while he visited an Islamic holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City, police said. The youth shouted insulting remarks at Gul at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, said Shmulik Ben-Ruby, a Jerusalem police spokesman, without elaborating.
The youth was detained for questioning, he said, adding that Gul’s visit to the holy site ended with no other incidents.
Gul had earlier left for Israel and the Palestinian territories yesterday, where he is due to discuss Turkish participation in a UN-led intervention force in Lebanon.
“Violent ways and unilateral initiatives do not ensure durable peace and stability,” Gul told reporters at Istanbul airport. “They have been tried and we saw that they led nowhere. We will state this position during our visit to Israel.” Gul added that he would “insist on the importance of appropriately applying resolution 1701,” referring to the UN cease-fire resolution for Lebanon that came into effect last Monday. Turkey, a member of NATO and one of Israel’s few allies in the Middle East, has expressed willingness to take part in an international stabilization force in Lebanon if there is a cease-fire and if Israel and Lebanon approve its deployment.
“We are still in an evaluation phase. We have not yet taken a decision. But without doubt these visits will contribute to this evaluation,” Gul said. The Turkish foreign minister was in Lebanon Wednesday.
