Gunmen raid Al-Arabiya office in Ramallah, threaten staff

Reporters Without Borders today condemned last night's raid by gunmen on the bureau of the pan-Arab television news network Al-Arabiya in the West Bank city of Ramallah and called on the Palestinian Authority to do everything possible to identify and punish those responsible. Five masked men armed with M-16 assault rifles, clubs and knives burst into the Al-Arabiya bureau at around 9:30 pm, herded the three employees present into one room, threatened them and smashed computer and office equipment. Claiming to belong to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the gunmen pointed their rifles at the heads of the employees and said: "This is a warning, the next time we will kill you." They gave no further explanation. None of the employees was injured. The Palestinian police said they would investigate the incident. An individual claiming to be a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades called the TV station at about 3:00 a.m. today and denied that the group was behind the raid. Al-Arabiya has its headquarters in Dubai.