Marwan Barghouthi, a popular leader of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, goes on trial for murder today in an Israeli civil court.
The proceedings that began in Tel Aviv District Court marked
the first civilian trial of a Palestinian leader since the revolt began in September 2000.
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Minutes before the trial got under way, a defiant Barghouthi shouted to reporters in Hebrew: "The Intifada (Palestinian uprising) will win."
He faces charges of murder and attempted murder related to attacks by the militant group he is accused of heading.
The high-profile criminal proceedings against Barghouthi, 43, will put on trial not only the charismatic Palestinian leader arrested in April but also President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction which Barghouthi headed in the West Bank.
Israel accuses Barghouthi of running the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group in Arafat's Fatah faction behind suicide bombings and other attacks which killed scores of Israelis in the nearly two-year-old uprising.