2nd Land Dealer Reported Slain in W. Bank

JERUSALEM â€”  Palestinian officials said Sunday that a man who had sold land to Israelis was found shot dead, but they denied their forces were responsible.

Harbi abu Sarah was the second land dealer found dead in the West Bank since Palestinian Justice Minister Freih abu Medeen was quoted in a published report as saying that Palestinians who sold land to Jews faced execution.

Washington and an international human rights group have urged Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat not to allow retribution against land dealers.

The first dealer, Farid Bashiti, 70, of East Jerusalem, was killed May 9 and was reportedly buried Sunday at a cemetery in the desert between Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Jericho. His funeral had been repeatedly postponed and the burial site changed out of fear of violence. Bashiti was found dead in the city of Ramallah.

But Asem Bashiti, the dead man’s nephew, said later Sunday that his uncle actually had been buried in a secret spot.

“We deceived the press and the police and everybody,� he said. “We did this so that the grave would not be desecrated.�

Sheik Ekrima Sabri, the chief Muslim cleric in Jerusalem, had declared Bashiti an infidel for allegedly selling land to Jews and said he could not be buried in a Muslim cemetery in the city.

Abu Sarah, a building contractor said to be in his 60s, was found dead in the village of Tira near Ramallah on Saturday and buried in his nearby home village of Ein Yabrud on Sunday, Palestinian sources said.

Israel’s Itim news agency quoted a relative of Abu Sarah as saying Palestinian security forces “apparently were involved� in the killing. It quoted other Palestinian sources as saying the man was killed in a dispute between families. The governor of Ramallah, Mustafa Liftawi, said Palestinian forces were not involved in Abu Sarah’s death.

“He was killed by a bullet in his ear,� Liftawi said. “In his village he is known as a dealer of land. He sold land to Israelis, and he has a bad reputation ethically.�

An Israeli court Thursday ordered the detention of a Palestinian man and woman on suspicion of involvement in Bashiti’s slaying. Israel alleged that Bashiti, who held Israeli citizenship, was killed for selling land to Jews.