Israeli forces arrest 18 Palestinian militants

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Mar 7 (Reuters) Israeli forces surrounded the Palestinian military intelligence headquarters in Ramallah today, detaining 18 militants who heeded their call through loudspeakers to surrender.

Palestinian security sources said the men belonged to al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, and were also members of the Palestinian security services.

The Israeli army said the 18 were involved in shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers and in attempts to kidnap Israelis.

''Israeli forces surrounded the military intelligence building where the men were hiding and called on them to turn themselves in,'' an army spokeswoman said. ''They did so and were arrested and taken away for questioning.'' No one was hurt in the morning raid in Ramallah, which is located in the occupied West Bank just north of Jerusalem.

In Arab East Jerusalem, Israeli police arrested an Israeli Muslim leader, Raed Salah, during a demonstration against Israeli excavations being carried out some 50 metres from Jerusalem's holiest Islamic shrine.

National police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Salah, head of the Islamic Movement in northern Israel, and another protester were taken into custody on suspicion of incitement after Palestinian and Syrian flags were raised at the protest.

Israel frowns on such activity in East Jerusalem, which it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move that is not recognised internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they hope to establish in the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has described as unfounded Muslim fears that the dig near the compound Muslims call al-Haram al-Sharif and Jews know as the Temple Mount could damage the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosques built on the complex.

Israeli leaders say the excavations are necessary to salvage ancient artefacts at the site before the planned construction of a new walkway to the compound, where two biblical Jewish temples once stood.

REUTERS PA HT1747