Palestinian Police confiscates footage at Gaza rally Jerusalem Post Staff and Ap

JERUSALEM (September 16) - About 1,500 Palestinians, many supporters of Hamas, marched in a Gaza Strip refugee camp Friday, burning Israeli flags and carrying a large poster of Osama bin Laden, an exiled Saudi millionaire who US Secretary of State Colin Powell has named a key suspect in last week's terror attacks in the United States.

After the rally, plainclothes Palestinian policemen questioned several journalists, including members of foreign news agencies, and confiscated videotape, film, and other camera equipment. An Associated Press Television News video was among the materials taken, and an AP photographer was warned by officials not to publish pictures of the bin Laden poster.

AP protested and demanded the return of the video and other material.

The journalists were told police would review the material before deciding whether or not to release it.

Palestinian Authority officials refused to comment on the record and did not respond immediately to AP's protest.

The Palestinian Police said in a statement that the rally in the Nusseirat refugee camp took place without a permit.

"The Palestinian Police confiscated media material which documented illegal acts," the statement said.

Earlier last week, Palestinian Police stopped camera teams and photographers from covering a rally in Nablus in which several thousand Palestinians celebrated the attacks in the US. Palestinian officials said the demonstration did not represent widespread Palestinian opinion.

According to one source, the Reuters correspondent in Nablus not only agreed to the PA demand not to document the rally, but attempted to press his AP counterpart to follow suit. He was unable to reach him in time. The AP cameraman later received death threats.

-- Anonymous, September 16, 2001