Israel raids prison to seize suspects in official's slaying

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JERICHO, West Bank -- Israeli troops using tanks and bulldozers burst into a Jericho prison yesterday and seized Palestinian prisoners held in the five-year-old assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister.

The prisoners were held by the Palestinian Authority under U.S. and British supervision as part of a deal worked out by the two Western powers, Israel and the Palestinians.

The prison was stormed by Israeli special forces just minutes after British monitors abandoned the compound, fueling Palestinian accusations of collusion with Israel.

The Israeli assault, undertaken after a 10-hour standoff, ignited an unprecedented spasm of violence against foreigners across the Palestinian areas.

Aid workers, teachers and journalists took refuge at the Palestinian security headquarters in the Gaza Strip as militants attacked offices linked to the U.S. and Europe, burned cars and torched the British Council building in Gaza City.

Gunmen kidnapped at least 10 foreigners, including an American professor who was held at an abandoned cemetery. After nightfall, three remained in captivity -- two French citizens and a South Korean journalist.

Aid agencies pulled foreign staff out of Palestinian areas.

The events yesterday sparked the first major crisis since Hamas took control of the parliament last month and indicated it would free the prisoners.

The successful Israeli raid boosted the standing of Israeli acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with two weeks remaining before parliamentary elections, but security forces were put on high alert after Palestinian militants threatened retaliatory attacks.

"We couldn't have allowed the murderer of an Israeli minister to go free," Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the Ha'aretz newspaper.