Gaddafi, Hamas call for lifting of Sheikh Yassin's house arrest

Colonel Moammar Gaddafi, leader of the Libyan revolution, asked Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to lift the house arrest of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin the founder and spiritual leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement.

A cable sent by Gaddafi to Arafat said he hoped that the house arrest of Sheikh Yassin would be lifted and that it is not acceptable that Sheikh Yassin gets out of an Israeli prison to be placed in a Palestinian prison.

The Hamas movement also demanded yesterday that the Palestinian authority lift the house arrest imposed on Sheikh Yassin.

In a statement Hamas urged Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to stop the detentions launched by the Palestinian police against members of movement.

At the same time, they condemned the Wye Plantation accord, stating that this agreement is behind all the suppressive campaigns against the Palestinians and that it seeks to destroy the Hamas movement as well as opposing opinions.