Israeli raid sows fear at Bethlehem mental hospital
By Cynthia Johnston
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - When a gunbattle ended after an Israeli army raid on a Bethlehem mental hospital on Thursday, a schizophrenic Palestinian patient stepped out on a ledge and threatened to jump.
"We brought him down. We talked to him slowly, calmly and gently," a doctor said. "The situation now is that all the patients feel fear...They are in shock."
It was a jarring introduction to the Middle East conflict for Bethlehem's Hospital for Psychological and Mental Illness, which had been spared during numerous Israeli incursions into the West Bank city during a 3-1/2-year-old Palestinian uprising.
Witnesses said Israeli soldiers battled for an hour against Palestinian gunmen holed up in the hospital, which lies about two km from the famed Manger Square in the town revered as Jesus's birthplace.
The army said militants had been meeting in the compound to plan attacks against Israelis. Troops surrounded the hospital before dawn and called on the gunmen to surrender, but the army said militants opened fire from inside. Twelve men, mostly militants from the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades that make up Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, were arrested, witnesses said.
Despite witness accounts, Moussa Abu Hamid, director of Palestinian hospitals, denied gunmen had taken refuge in the hospital. He said six nurses were among those detained by Israel. No casualties were reported.
At the hospital, a sprawling complex lined with palm trees and well-manicured shrubs, nurses tried to comfort patients suffering from illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression.
"What I hear is that it affected them a lot. They are agitated," said Adel Eissa, administrative director of the hospital. "There is no justification for this. But who will listen? They (the Israelis) say it is self-defence."
PATIENTS CONFUSED
One schizophrenic patient, asked how he felt about what happened, could say little more than "good morning" and complain he could not get juice because of the destruction.
Another trembled as he spoke about an Israeli army jeep that came close to his building, but said he was not afraid.
"We were feeling bad," said a third patient who said he was awakened by shooting and watched the raid from a window. "We are not used to seeing soldiers here."
Israeli fire left gaping holes in walls in the administrative section of the hospital and chunks of plaster and glass shards littered the corridors.
In one room, ceiling panels had collapsed onto an examination table. On the roof, water dripped from storage tanks pierced by gunfire.
Doctors said they were still confused about what had happened, saying soldiers prevented them from leaving their sleeping quarters to reach patients during the raid.
"The soldiers surrounded our building and we couldn't get out," said one doctor, who declined to give his name. He now fears that the condition of some patients could deteriorate.
"We heard some shots and some explosions, and then there were more and more. We didn't know what was happening, he said.
Asked if there were militants in the hospital, he said he did not know.
"We didn't see anybody," he said. "Maybe there was somebody who was wanted, but they didn't need to destroy the hospital."
(Additional reporting by Dan Williams)
SRINAGAR (Reuters) - Suspected Muslim rebels detonated a bomb in the city council building of Srinagar on Thursday saying it was a warning to the people of the troubled region to boycott India's national polls this month.
Police said one person suffered minor wounds after the bomb exploded in a toilet of Srinagar Municipality, damaging the heavily-guarded building located in the heart of the city.
An unidentified militant called local newspaper offices in Srinagar and said the blast was a signal to those who planned to participate in the elections, to be held in five stages between April 20 and May 10.
Thursday's blast follows several calls by militant groups as well as moderate separatist politicians to boycott polls to elect a new Indian government.
Jammu and Kashmir sends six lawmakers to the 545-member Lok Sabha.
Islamic insurgents fighting against New Delhi's rule in the region and separatist politicians have boycotted all elections held since the revolt began in 1989. They say elections only help legitimise Indian rule in the disputed region.
Election authorities reported a 44 percent voter turnout in state elections in 2002 despite a boycott call and threats by militants. Separatists say the figures were exaggerated and the boycott was total.
Separatist violence has continued in the Himalayan region this year despite a steady improvement in ties between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan, who have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.
Opinion polls say the government of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, which launched a new bid for peace with Pakistan last year, is expected to easily win the elections.