A Palestinian military tribunal inside Mr Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters today sentenced four militants involved in the killing of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi, an official said.
The four men from the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), including the group's head, were sentenced by a military court and their sentences ratified by Palestinian leader Mr Arafat, who has been under Israeli siege in the building since March 29th.
The three-man tribunal sentenced Hamdi Qoraan to 18 years in prison, Bassel al-Asmar to 12 and Mejdi Rimawi to eight.
Ahed Abu Gholma, the head of the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades, the PFLP's armed wing that killed Mr Zeevi in Jerusalem last October, was sentenced to one year, the official said.
Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon immediately dismissed the verdicts.
"I have to say, it would have been possible to avoid trying them twice, as they will anyway be brought to trial in Israel," Mr Sharon said.
Mr Zeevi, an ultra-nationalist 74-year-old former general, was shot in the head by PFLP militants on October 17th in a hotel in Jerusalem.
His killing provoked an Israeli invasion of towns and cities in the West Bank and Israel vowed to hunt down his killers.
AFP