Palestinian government arrests 40 persons accused of joining Jihad

The Palestinian government detained 40 persons in the West Bank thought to have relations with the extremist Islamic movement al-Jihad and thought to be relatives of the three members of the movement who fled from the prison on Saturday.

Palestinian security sources told ArabicNews.com that, "The three runaways who were accused of attacking the Israelis with bombs in Jerusalem escaped during their moving from a prison in Nablus to a medical clinic."

On the other hand, the Islamic Jihad movement accused the Palestinian government of collusion with Israel in their escaping in mysterious circumstances, and sources in Jihad said, "The Palestinian Authority, instead of protecting its citizens, spys for the good of Israel and informs them of their sons' actions and places pressure and torment against the runaways' relatives to obtain any information to convey it to Israel."