Israel Jails Palestinian Leader Accused of Spying for Baghdad

Israel jailed a moderate Palestinian leader for six months without trial Tuesday on grounds he spied for Iraq by telling Baghdad where missiles targeted at Israel landed, Israeli officials said.

The accused, Sari Nusseibeh, has been identified with the mainstream Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He has been one of the most vocal proponents of a peaceful solution to the Arab uprising against Israeli rule. He is the third Palestinian leader who favors talks with Israel to have been jailed without trial since the Persian Gulf crisis began in August.

According to a statement from the Israeli army, Nusseibeh is charged with “subversive acts.” The specifics of the accusations pointed to spying. He collected “security information for Iraqi intelligence . . . especially after missile attacks on Israel,” and arranged for the data to be sent to the PLO, which passed it on to Iraq, the army said.

Nusseibeh identified the sites of missile impacts with “pinpoint accuracy,” claimed Raanan Gissin, a military spokesman.

Nusseibeh is not being put on trial in order not to expose the source of the accusations, Gissin said.