The New York Times · 16 May 1997

CP-1997-033

Two Palestinian Suspects Held in Death of Arab Real Estate Dealer

By JOEL GREENBERG

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Transcribed from the clipping

JERUSALEM, May 15 — The Israeli police said today that they were holding a Palestinian man and woman on suspicion of involvement in the killing of an Arab real estate dealer accused of selling land to Jews.

An Israeli court here ordered them detained for questioning in the killing of the dealer, Farid Bashiti, 70, an East Jerusalem resident, whose bludgeoned and bound body was found last Friday in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank town of Ramallah.

The killing followed an announcement by the Palestinian Authority on May 5 that it would impose the death sentence on Palestinians convicted of selling land to Jews. An Israeli police spokesman identified the male suspect as Nasser al-Anani, an officer in the Ramallah police who lives in Jerusalem.

The woman was identified as Nadia Dabash, 33, a real estate agent from Jerusalem. Palestinians said Mr. Anani, 36, was a lawyer employed by the Ramallah police. Questioned by reporters as he was led into court, he denied that he had taken Mr. Bashiti to Ramallah and said he did not know who had. His lawyer said that his client was not involved in the killing.

Miss Dabash made no statement. Mr. Bashiti’s body was found hours after he met Miss Dabash at a Jerusalem hotel for what his relatives said was a business appointment. Israeli security officials said they suspected that Mr. Bashiti had been lured to Ramallah, where he was killed by Palestinian security men.

“The investigation points in the direction of involvement in one form or another of the Palestinian Authority,” said the chief of the Jerusalem police, Yair Yitzhaki. Palestinian security officials have denied any connection to the slaying, and Mr. Bashiti’s relatives said it might have been related to a personal dispute.

The killing came several days after the Palestinian Authority’s Justice Minister, Freih Abu Middein, announced that swift death sentences would be imposed on Arabs convicted of selling land to Jews.

How this transcription was made

Transcribed from the slide scan by a reader working off magnified crops, not by optical character recognition. The clipping carries no masthead and no folio. The date is fixed from the page by two datelines: the main story is datelined “JERUSALEM, May 15” and a Reuters brief set beside it in the last column is datelined “JERUSALEM, Friday, May 16”, which puts the issue on Friday 16 May; 16 May 1997 was a Friday. The newspaper is NOT printed on the clipping; that attribution rests on the hand-typed slide label and on house typography. The last column carries a separate Reuters story about south Lebanon which is not part of this article and is not transcribed.

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