A top Palestinian militant on hunger strike for nearly two weeks has been transferred to the hospital wing of an Israeli prison near Tel Aviv, a Palestinian MP said Sunday.Ahmed Saadat, secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), began refusing food on April 17 as part of a mass hunger strike which is now being observed by least 1,350 prisoners held by Israel.
“Ahmed Saadat was transferred to the hospital wing of Ramle prison but we don’t have any details about his condition,” said Khalida Jarrar, one of the PFLP’s three serving MPs.
She said Saadat, who was being held in Rimon prison in the southern Negev desert, had been refusing food for 13 days after starting an open-ended hunger strike along with some 1,200 other prisoners, a number which has since grown.
“Israel is responsible for his life because he is in an Israeli prison,” she said.
| Israel serves three halal meals a day to his prison cell door. If he doesn't eat them that's his problem. Ms. Jarrar should reflect on how Saadat would be doing if the Israelis really were as evil as she believes them to be... |
“He was transferred to the prison medical facility due to his advanced age, in order to enable closer supervision,” Sivan Weizman told AFP. “He is in good condition.”
Saadat, who is in his late 50s, is serving a 30-year sentence on charges of “heading a terror organisation.”
He was initially accused of masterminding the killing of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi in October 2001, but prosecutors later dropped that charge.
Last October, he was rushed to hospital after collapsing following 21 days without food.