Israel's Justice Ministry yesterday delivered an official request to the Palestinian Authority for the extradition of West Bank Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti. The action came after Jerusalem's Magistrate Court issued a warrant for Barghouti's arrest on suspicion of direct involvement in terror attacks against Israeli civilian and military targets over the past few months.

Barghouti is suspected of being involved in the June 12 murder of Greek Orthodox monk Georgios Tsibukakis on the Jerusalem-Maaleh Adumim highway and a shooting attack in which an Israeli motorist was injured on a road near the village of Safa later that month. Members of the Force 17 organization suspected of killing the monk claimed they had approached Barghouti and had asked him for weapons to carry out attacks against Israel. Barghouti reportedly referred them to a different person, who sold them the weapons used in the attack. At the time, Barghouti denied the allegations against him.

Following the attacks, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein requested that security officials provide the Justice Ministry with results of their investigations concerning Barghouti's involvement in terrorist activities. The material was received by the office of senior Justice Ministry official Jean Claude Nidam, where a request for an arrest warrant was processed for submission to the court.

The arrest order request alleged that Barghouti had abetted murder and attempted murder, possessed illegal weapons, held unlicensed military training exercises and both belonged to, and was active in illegal organizations.

After Jerusalem Magistrate Court Justice Rafi Carmel approved the arrest warrant, the Justice Ministry issued the extradition request. The extradition order was issued in accordance with the September 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the signing of this agreement, Israel has requested the extradition of some 50 suspected terrorists, but the Palestinians have not acceded or even bothered to respond to any of the previous requests.

"They haven't extradited anyone since 1993," said Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. Inbar noted that the Israeli government has requested the extradition of senior Palestinians before, including Palestinian Police chief Col. Ghazi Jabali in 1997.

Barghouti charges Israel is preparing to assassinate him
"This is an extremely false accusation," Barghouti told Reuters in response to the extradition request. "I am not connected to the military wing. I am playing a political role in the Intifada, which will continue as long as there is an [Israeli] occupation," he said.

Barghouti said that the extradition request is a preliminary step by Israel in its preparations to assassinate him. He dismissed the move on Palestinian television as an attempt by Israel to justify its "ongoing policy of assassinating leaders of the Intifada."

Barghouti charged that the people who should be brought to justice are Israel's leaders, led by its Prime Minister. "If Israel would extradite Sharon, the Palestinian Authority would extradite me to Israel," he said. "The extradition request is in itself a war crime. In Israel they forget that I am a political leader, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council." Barghouti repeated that he has no connection to military activities.

Speaking to Maariv, Barghouti admitted that he had increased fears for his own safety. "I am more afraid, but I will continue to fight."

The Palestinian Authority reportedly immediately dismissed Israel's extradition request.

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