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AL QUDS, June 2: Twelve Israeli border policemen have confessed to abusing Palestinians, Israel Radio reported on Wednesday. Nine policemen reportedly were arrested three days ago and admitted to beating Palestinians and robbing their money during searches near the West Bank border.
Three border policemen reportedly confessed to abducting two 17- year-old Palestinians from a village near Al Quds to a nearby forest. The victims were beaten with sticks, punched, had dairy products poured over them and were forced to kiss the policemen's shoes and chew sand and stones.
The three policemen were also arrested this week and were scheduled to be indicted on Wednesday. Pictures reportedly displayed in court on Tuesday showed the that one youth's back was covered in welts from the beatings.
GAZA PULLOUT: In a related development Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon said on Wednesday that he was determined to implement his Gaza Strip withdrawal plan by the end of 2005, despite fierce opposition among some members of the cabinet and coalition legislators.
"By 2005 there will not be any settlers left in Gaza," the premier was quoted by the Ma'ariv daily as telling the Knesset (parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. Sharon has said he plans to bring the withdrawal initiative to the cabinet for a vote on Sunday even though a majority of ministers will reportedly oppose it.
The premier has also said he will not compromise on his plan to evacuate all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip, and four isolated ones in the northern West Bank. Justice Minister Yosef Lapid has been trying to broker a compromise with Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most prominent cabinet opponent to Sharon's plan.
Netanyahu wants a limited withdrawal of only three isolated settlements in the Gaza Strip. Sharon was forced to modify his original withdrawal plan after members of his Likud Party rejected it in a party referendum early last month. The revised plan would see the evacuation carried out in stages, with each stage dependent on prior cabinet approval. -dpa
