BEHIND THE ISRAELI PRISONER CAPTURE

Hamas' Trigger - Aluf Benn (Ha'aretz)
Hamas leaders began saying they planned to release the Jericho prisoners. What finally sparked Israel's operational preparations was when the PA began releasing Islamic Jihad operatives from jails in the territories, and, at about the same time, Abbas said the PA should consider freeing the Jericho prisoners as well.

Last Wednesday, the British and American consuls in Jerusalem sent a letter to Abbas informing him that they were canceling the 2002 agreement. The letter said: "The pending handover of governmental power to a political party that has repeatedly called for the release of the Jericho detainees also calls into question the political sustainability of the monitoring mission."

They gave Abbas an ultimatum: Either implement the agreement in full, at once, or reach a different agreement with Israel. And should he fail to do either, "we will have to terminate our involvement with the Jericho monitoring mission and withdraw our monitors with immediate effect." Israel was informed that the British and American jailers would leave Jericho by March 15.

Who Are the Six Captured Palestinian Terrorists?
The six terrorists arrested in Jericho include the two top commanders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ahmed Saadat and Ahed Ulmeh, and three PFLP terrorists who were directly involved in the assassination of Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi - Majdi Rimawi, Bassel Assamer, and Hamdi Quran. Both Saadat and Ulmeh continued to guide and direct the organization's terror activity from within the jail. The sixth, Fuad Shubaki, was responsible for the smuggling of large amounts of weaponry including the "Karine A" weapons ship. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Saadat was suspected of masterminding a suicide bombing in the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv from his jail cell. (Ha'aretz)

Justice in Jericho - Editorial
The identity of Israeli minister Rehavam Zeevi's killers is not disputed. A photomontage of the killers, weapons brandished, standing over a coffin with Zeevi's picture on it, appears on the PFLP website. View PFLP website (Jerusalem Post)

How the Walls of Jericho Were Breached - Harry de Quetteville
Britain's tiny contingent of monitors left Jericho's jail soon after 9 am Tuesday, telling Palestinian staff that they were taking their car to be fixed. The Foreign Office later said they were leaving because of fears for their "security" and few doubt that inside Jericho jail the inmates ran the show.

The cell of Ahmed Saadat, the man accused of masterminding the assassination of Maj.-Gen. (res.) Rehavam Zeevi, was more of an office. He had telephones and television sets. The jail's Palestinian guards stayed away from his quarters, which included a kitchen and an area to receive guests. The British monitors stayed even further back. (Telegraph-UK)