Minister held for entering Jerusalem

JERUSALEM, SEPT. 9. Israeli police detained the Palestinian Cabinet Minister, Mr. Ziad Abu Zayyad, on Sunday for entering Arab east Jerusalem in violation of Israeli travel restrictions on Palestinians.

The Israeli police spokesman, Mr. Shmulik Ben-ruby, said Mr. Zayyad ``has no Israeli identity card and should not be in Jerusalem''. Mr. Ben-ruby said police would escort Mr. Zayyad out of the city. The Minister lives in a West Bank town on the edge of Jerusalem. Mr. Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian legislator, called Mr. Zayyad's detention a political move aimed at cutting off east Jerusalem - captured by Israel in the 1967 war and later annexed - from the rest of the West Bank. Under Israeli regulations, only Palestinians holding Israeli-issued Jerusalem residency cards are allowed into the city. Israel has tightened the restrictions during the nearly year-long Palestinian uprising against occupation. Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its eternal and indivisible capital, a claim that is not recognised internationally.

- Reuters

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Section  : International
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