Palestinian Police Close 2 Newspapers
GAZA CITY — Palestinian police Sunday for the second time this year shut two newspapers linked to Islamic groups opposed to the PLO-Israel peace deal, officials at the newspapers said.
Imad Falouji--publisher of Al Watan, which backs Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement--said he believed police closed his paper because of articles critical of Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat.
The editor of the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Al Istiklal said he believed his publication was shut because it had criticized the Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian officials were unavailable for comment. Police on Saturday detained Falouji and Al Istiklal’s publisher, Alaa Saftawi, but freed them after several hours.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad spearhead opposition to the 1993 Israel-PLO deal that gave Palestinians limited self-rule.
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