President Yasser Arafat offered today to put the suspected killers of far-right Israeli Tourism Minister Mr Rehavam Zeevi on trial in a Palestinian court, an aide to the Palestinian leader said.
The Palestinian side accepts and welcomes the call by US President George W. Bush to submit those accused of killing Mr Zeevi to the Palestinian justice (system) since they are subject to Palestinian jurisdiction under Oslo peace accords, Mr Mohammed Rashid, an Arafat adviser, told reporters.
Mr Rashid, speaking from Mr Arafat's besieged headquarters in Ramallah, said the suspects had been moved to the presidential compound from a prison in Nablus in February for investigation.
Israel has said the army will besiege Mr Arafat's headquarters until the suspects are handed over, along with a Palestinian official suspected of involvement in an intercepted Iranian arms shipment Israel says was for the Palestinian Authority.
Mr Bush said yesterday Mr Zeevi's suspected assassins, who belong to the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, should be brought to justice, but did not say whether they should be tried in a Palestinian or an Israeli court.