Israeli army storms house of Palestinian minister
( 2002-04-06 10:56 ) (7 )

Israeli forces on Friday stormed the house of Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, and left after searching it for a half an hour, the minister said.

"I am not under arrest," Abed Rabbo said, denying rumours he had been apprehended by the troops who invaded his house in El-Bireh, near the besieged West Bank city of Ramallah.

"They searched my house and then left," he said, adding the soldiers had given him no explanation for their act.

An army spokesman said Abed Rabbo's house had been stormed by "mistake", adding the soldiers were searching all the houses on that street and did not know they had entered the minister's house.

The spokesman also confirmed that Abed Rabbo had not been arrested at any point and that the army had apologised to him.

The Israeli army launched a large-scale operation in Ramallah on March 29, besieging Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in his destroyed headquarters there.

The army declared the West Bank city a closed military zone Sunday and has since systematically combed the area for suspected militants and arms, searching hundreds of houses and arresting dozens of people.

Friday night's incident in Abed Rabbo's home however, was the first time a minister's house had been searched by Israeli troops.