[News] PFLP statement

[Anti-Imperialist News]

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Condemns the Arrest 
of Its General Secretary and Calls on All to Shoulder Their Responsibilities

by The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Ramallah: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine condemns 
all those who directly or indirectly caused the criminal arrest of 
its General Secretary, his comrades, Brother Fu'ad ash-Shawbaki, and 
numerous other militants of various patriotic and Islamic forces who 
were subject to arbitrary political imprisonment based on 
American-Zionist dictates. The PFLP declares that the invader forces 
committed the crime of that arrest, as well as the attack on the 
Jericho prison and the destruction of the Muqata'ah building inside, 
with the complicity of America and Britain, as the officials of the 
Palestine Authority -- their minds controlled by the fear of the 
Israeli response to anything that they might do -- trembled and 
wavered.  This followed the naive faith they had put in agreements, 
even those under the protection of America and other such 
countries.  Ehud Olmert, meanwhile, sought at this moment to prove to 
the Israelis that he is the spitting image of Sharon so that he and 
his party might gain politically and in the coming elections.

The PFLP states that it had delivered an official memorandum in the 
name of its Political Bureau to the Executive Committee of the 
Palestine Liberation Organization and its Chairman in the presence of 
the Patriotic and Islamic forces in which it demanded that the order 
of the Palestine Supreme Court to release the General Secretary of 
the Popular Front be carried out and stated that the PFLP took full 
responsibility for his life and security.  But this document was not 
treated seriously.  Nor was serious attention paid to the American 
and British warnings issued on the 8th of March that indicated that 
the Anglo-American protection of the prison was going to be lifted.

The Popular Front declares that it holds the Israeli occupation and 
the leadership of Israel and its security agencies responsible for 
any harm that might be done to the life of the General Secretary of 
the Popular Front or his comrades.  It also holds responsible America 
and Britain, which abandoned their commitments to protect the 
prisoners, thereby confirming the Anglo-American collusion and 
participation in the crime.

The Popular Front declares that the battle to free Ahmad Saadat and 
his comrades has not ended and would never end until he is 
released.  The PFLP, and with it all the patriotic forces, will 
continue to press the Palestine Authority to carry on pursuing the 
case inasmuch as it is an assault on its sovereignty and a violation 
of an abominable agreement signed under a hail of bullets in the 
Muqat'ah in Ramallah.

The Popular Front calls on the Patriotic and Islamic forces, the 
organizations of Palestinian civil society, and all the forces for 
freedom and justice in the world to continue to act in rejection of 
this American-backed Israeli piracy and to press for the liberation 
of the General Secretary from his new place of imprisonment.

The Popular Front declares that this crime will in no way reduce its 
will, which has been baptized in the blood of the martyrs and is 
experienced in the ways of struggle.  Its response to the crime will 
be painful.  The PFLP calls for an end to depending on illusions 
connected with agreements that are violated before their ink is 
dry.  The flimsy excuse that the continued confinement of the General 
Secretary and his comrades was for their protection has been torn 
apart by the treads of tanks and bulldozers.  Protecting him outside 
the prison would have been easier than leaving him inside the 
facility where at every minute he could be targeted for death.

The Popular Front concludes its declaration by appealing for an end 
to pinning hopes on the promises of America and others that yield 
nothing but temporary, transitional agreements that bring us back to 
the Oslo whirlpool.  The PFLP calls for a continuation of the 
comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue aimed at strengthening 
national unity on clear and deeply rooted bases that bolster the 
steadfastness and resistance of our people.  It also calls for the 
establishment of a patriotic coalition government and for the 
rebuilding of the Palestine Liberation Organization on democratic 
bases and with the participation of all, inasmuch as it is the 
supreme authority of our people and their sole, legal representative 
wherever they are located.

15 March 2006.

Arabic original at www.pflp.net.

The English translation was provided by Muhammad Abu Nasr.

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