JERUSALEM, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Israeli forces have arrested a reporter for the Web site of the Arabic satellite channel Al Jazeera television station in the West Bank town of Hebron.
Awad Rajoub, 29, was arrested at his home there on Wednesday evening, Walid al-Amari, Al Jazeera bureaux chief for the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem, said on Thursday. Israel has not explained the arrest, he told Reuters. "We are checking to find out why they arrested him." An army spokeswoman said only that Awad was being held "for security reasons".
Aljazeera.net adds: Sources told Aljazeera that Rajub, a Palestinian, was beaten up in the presence of his wife by the Israeli soldiers. His computer and mobile phone were also confiscated. Rajub was later taken to an undisclosed location.
Walid al-Amari, Aljazeera's bureau chief for Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories, said: "The army simply said that he had been arrested for security reasons, and we do not know any more than that."
Israeli public radio said Rajub was arrested after the army received information about him from the domestic Israeli security service, Shin Beth.
