ARRESTED: Bassam al-Salhi, a PA chairman election candidate

[idontwantaname]

Court releases on bail PA election candidate after checkpoint scuffle

By Haaretz Service and Reuters

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Courts ordered on Friday evening the release on bail of Bassam al-Salhi, a PA chairman election candidate who was arretsed by police after a scuffle with Border police troops at a checkpoint near Jerusalem.

Witnesses said Border Police officers stopped Bassam al-Salhi, handcuffed him and took him away as he tried to cross A-Ram checkpoint into Jerusalem. Police scuffled with Salhi's aides when they tried to pull him free.

This marks a second incident to mar the campaign to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat.

A police spokesman said Salhi, a member of the communist People's Party faction inside the Palestine Liberation Organization, did not have a permit to enter Jerusalem.

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