Israelis kill brother of radical Palestinian leader

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Israeli special forces killed the brother of a radical Palestinian leader in his home Tuesday, Palestinian intelligence officers and witnesses said.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the killing of Mohammed Saadat, brother of Ahmed Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The intelligence officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israeli forces entered a house in the center of Ramallah and shot Mohammed Saadat. Relatives and hospital officials confirmed Mohammed Saadat had been killed.

Witnesses said soldiers were apparently trying to arrest him, but he ran away from them and was shot behind the house. Israeli soldiers, some in civilian clothes, surrounded the house and fired rifles in the air to disperse angry relatives.

Mohammed Saadat was not known as a leading Palestinian activist.

Ahmed Saadat has been under Palestinian detention since May 1, part of a deal that ended a 34-day Israeli siege of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah. Israel charged that Saadat planned the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in a Jerusalem hotel on Oct. 17, retaliation for Israel's killing of Abu Ali Mustafa, Saadat's predecessor as head of the PFLP, on Aug. 27, 2001.

After the siege was lifted, Saadat and five other Palestinians were escorted by British and U.S. officials to a