Several hundred Israeli Arabs headed by MKs and local council leaders took part in a protest rally Sunday outside the Kishon jail south of Haifa, where the Islamic Movement´s northern branch leader Sheikh Raed Salah and four other senior members of the group are detained.

The demonstrators marched from the main Haifa-Yokne´am road to the prison´s gates to protest against the detentions and to express solidarity with who they called "political prisoners."

Hadash MK Muhammad Barakeh and United Arab List MK Abdel Malek Dehamshe were among the speakers who addressed the protesters.

Salah and his colleagues were arrested nearly six months ago and have been remanded in custody since then. They have been indicted on charges of channeling approximately NIS 30 million from outlawed Hamas "charities" in Europe and the Middle East to the Islamic Movement in Israel, to banned Hamas organizations in the territories, and to terrorists and their families. (© 1995-2003, The Jerusalem Post 12/08/03)