FATAH SEEKING IMMUNITY, AMNESTY FOR WANTED TERRORISTS

Fatah Seeking Immunity for Wanted Terrorists (INN)
While Hamas is working on a trade involving kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit that they hope will gain the release of hundreds of Palestinian Authority terrorists currently imprisoned in Israeli jails, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah is seeking to keep the rest of the PA terrorists from going to jail in the first place.

According to an official in the PA, as reported by Arutz Sheva's Dalit Halevy, during at least two recent meetings between Israeli and PA officials, the PA side sought a moratorium on Israeli pursuit of wanted terrorists in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Riad Al-Maliki, Minister of Justice and Information in the Judea and Samaria-region PA government, said Monday that he foresees forthcoming Israeli guarantees that it will cease hunting down PA terrorists.

The reason he expects Israel to provide the guarantees, he explained, is that such a move will smooth the way for the implementation of the new PA's security plans. Those plans, designed to strengthen Fatah's hand in PA society, are generally agreed upon by Israel.

Maliki noted that the PA negotiators put the moratorium for wanted terrorists at the top of the agenda during the meeting last week between PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, PA Interior Minister Abd Al-Razek Al-Yahya and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. During their meeting, the PA officials and Barak discussed other security-related issues, as well, such as Fayyad's plans to collect weapons from the populace. Fayyad also raised the issue of ways in which Israel could strengthen the regime of Abbas and his emergency government, such as removing IDF checkpoints in Judea and Samaria.