Israel releases senior Hamas leader

Completing 28 months of solitary confinement on Thursday, Hasan Yusuf walked out of Israel's Ofar prison just west of Ram Allah and immediately headed towards Yasir Arafat's grave to pay his respects.

Later, Yusuf told Aljazeera despite his two year ordeal, he was still in Hamas and would remain in the organisation until Palestinian's obtained their rights.

"I have faced what every Palestinian detainee faces in the Israeli jails; investigations, solitary confinement and torture," Hasan Yusuf said.

"I appeal to the Palestinian people, Authority, all factions and forces, saying that the detainees are their responsibility," he added.

The 49-year-old added that there could never be a real peace with Israel until all Palestinian detainees held in Israeli jails had been released.

Charity connections

Yusuf was jailed for his ties to Islamic charities affiliated with Hamas, which has spearheaded a campaign of resistance in the face of Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank.

His release from prison might bolster Hamas's ranks in the West Bank amidst a power vacuum following Arafat's death.

According to Israel's Haaretz newspaper's website, the Jewish state's Shin Beth security service was unable to provide evidence connecting Yusuf to attacks by Hamas. He was convicted on the relatively minor charges of links to illegal charities.

He served most of his sentence at a prison in the al-Saba military prision.
Aljazeera + Agencies

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/95601A34-1DC3-4840-A37B-67243F9F417C.htm

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israel freed Hamas's top West Bank leader Thursday after two years in jail and he swiftly called on the Jewish state to release all Palestinian inmates as a condition for any truce.

Emerging from a military prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Hassan Yusef said he would go on working on behalf of Hamas and urged the militant Islamic group to pursue its armed struggle against Israel.

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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6853342

Yusef, a Ramallah resident who rose to become head of Hamas' political wing in the West Bank in August 2001, was arrested during Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002.

The Shin Bet security service was unable to prove a direct connection between Yusef and terror activities, so he was convicted and sentenced based on his activity in Islamic charities affiliated with Hamas.

Yusef seems to have maintained his elevated status while imprisoned.

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http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/503316.html