Jerusalem, June 30 (DPA) Israeli police arrested Wednesday a Palestinian lawmaker of the radical Islamist Hamas movement who lives in East Jerusalem, Israel Radio reported.
Mohammed Abu Tir, born in East Jerusalem, was arrested after he apparently ignored Israeli orders to leave the city, the radio station said.
Israel has banned any activity by Hamas, which it regards as a terrorist organisation, in Jerusalem.
As a condition for his release from four years in an Israeli jail, where he was held because of his ties with Hamas, Israeli authorities demanded that Abu Tir resign from the Palestinian Legislative Council, but when he refused to do, denied him permanent residence status in Jerusalem.
The legislator, known for his henna-dyed red beard, was jailed from June 2006, when Israel detained a host of Hamas
politicians in response to the capture of an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid on an Israeli military base near Gaza, who is still being held captive and incommunicado by Hamas at a hidden location in the strip.
