Hamas marches to support militant, condemn Israel

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) -- Palestinians marched in the West Bank on Friday in a show of support for a Hamas militant wounded during a shoot-out in which three Israeli soldiers died.

Around 2,000 supporters of the radical Hamas group demonstrated in the village of Assira al-Shamaliyeh where the confrontation took place last weekend in a hunt for Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, described by Israel as its most wanted West Bank Palestinian activist.

Israel charges him with playing a key role in two of the bombings in Jerusalem in 1997 that killed 21 people at an outdoor market and cafe-lined pedestrian mall.

"Long live Mahmoud. Long live Islam," the protesters chanted, holding Palestinian and Hamas flags as Israeli soldiers watched from a distance.

Demonstrators poured into the streets after Friday prayers, marching over the name, written on the ground in Hebrew letters, of the Israeli Duvdevan (Cherry) army unit that carried out the raid.

Faxes read by Hamas activist Jamal Abu-Alhaija from the group's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Hamas Politburo chief Khaled Meshal congratulated the people of the village and Abu Hanoud for what they deemed to be a victory over Israel.

The Hamas militant was shot in the shoulder but managed to flee to Nablus where he gave himself up to the Palestinian Authority.

Protesters called on the Authority to hold firm to their pledge to try Abu Hanoud in a Palestinian security court rather than hand him over to Israel. A lawyer representing the militant said on Thursday there was no given date for the trial.

PLO-Israeli peace deals state that if someone wanted by Israel is tried by Palestinian courts, Israel cannot demand extradition.

The Israeli army has said the soldiers might have been killed by "friendly fire" during the search in which a fourth soldier was moderately wounded. It has ordered an extensive investigation of the mishap to be completed next week.

Hamas opposes Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's peace accords with Israel and has killed scores of Israelis in suicide bombings.

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