Israel Extends Arrest of Al-Jazeera’s Kabul Bureau Chief

An Israeli military court Tuesday ordered Al-Jazeera’s Kabul bureau chief Samer Allawi to remain in custody for 10 more days, according to an Al-Jazeera report. It said Allawi was being investigated for allegations he made contacts with Hamas activists in the West Bank, which his lawyer has denied and the report said was part of his work as journalists. The hearing at the court went only for 25 minutes, said Allawi’s family members, who were not allowed into the courtroom. Allawi, 46, was arrested as he was leaving the West Bank last Tuesday following a three-week visit to his family in a village near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Monday called on Israel to clarify the legal basis for holding Allawi. 'Israel must clarify why it continues to hold Samer Allawi,' said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. 'Our concern for Allawi's well-being and his legal rights is amplified with every passing day that he is held without due process.'