Sharon under Police Interrogation as Palestinian Fighter Killed in Gaza Strip

05/02/2004| IslamWeb

Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was questioned by police Thursday in a bribery case that could lead to his resignation, as Political opponents charged his statements about removing Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip was meant to deflect attention from the scandal. Police arrived at Sharon's official residence in Jerusalem on Thursday, for what media reports said would be a short, final interrogation before the state attorney makes a decision on an indictment. On his part, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, a leader of the hawkish wing of the Likud party, said he supported the withdrawal plan. "The plan of disengagement from the Palestinians is good and the evacuation of the (Gaza) strip will provide greater security to the residents of Israel than they have now," the Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot on Thursday quoted Mofaz as saying. In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian activist was killed in a shooting incident near the settlement of Netzarim, according to Palestinian medical sources. "The body of Mahmud al-Dibes reached our hospital this morning. It was headless and missing legs and one arm," said doctor Ibrahim al-Musader from Deir al-Balah hospital. The 21-year-old man originated from the Jabaliya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip. Separately, a statement by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine's (DFLP) armed branch, the Palestinian Resistance Brigades, said Dibes was killed after he "participated in an attack against an Israeli army patrol during which several enemy troops were wounded." Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians fired an anti-tank rocket at an Israeli base near the settlement of Neveh Dekalim, Israel Radio reported. No injuries were reported in this attack. In the West Bank, a Palestinian man was critically wounded Wednesday night during an Israeli riad on Bethlehem. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Ariel Sharon gestures during a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem Wednesday Feb 4, 2004. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)