Hamas Speaker of Palestinian Parliament Released
Israel on Thursday released one of the Islamic militant Hamas movement's most senior members, the speaker of the now-defunct Palestinian parliament. Abdel Aziz Dweik, 64, was freed after serving six months without charges, his aide Baha Mahmoud said. Israel confirmed the release.
Hamas defeated the Fatah movement of internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2006 parliamentary elections. After the vote, Israel began arresting Hamas legislators in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Hamas says 17 of the movement's 45 West Bank legislators are currently in prison. Dweik previously served 33 months of a three-year sentence for belonging to Hamas, considered a terror organization by Israel and the West.
The Palestinian parliament stopped functioning after Hamas seized Gaza from Abbas in 2007.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/hamas-speaker-palestinian-parliament-released-16813191
