RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Informed Palestinian sources reported that the Fatah-affiliated preventive security apparatus in Ramallah kidnapped sheikh Anwar Mara'ba, the deputy minister of religious affairs, adding that preventive security chief Ziad Hab Al-Reeh interrogated and tortured the sheikh brutally in the Beyoutna prison.

The sources also underlined that everybody in the prison could clearly hear screams of pain coming from the Mara'ba's cell, adding that he fainted more than once at noon Friday as a result of the excruciating torture inflicted on him.

In a statement received by the PIC, the family of Mara'ba held Hab Al-Reeh and the PA leadership in Ramallah fully responsible for the life of the sheikh.

In a related development, the same sources said that the preventive security elements in the Beyoutna prison used a baton charge against the Palestinian prisoners and some of them opened fire indiscriminately at them.

The sources added that dozens of prisoners affiliated with Hamas were injured badly during the assault.

In another related context, other informed sources in Jenin told the PIC that dozens of Hamas cadres and supporters are still in PA jails, where they are subjected to severe inhumane torture.

The sources explained that the PA jailers tie up the prisoners' hands to the cell ceiling, deprive them of sleep for days and beat them with plastic tubes and electricity wires on different parts of their bodies as well as other torture means.

The sources pointed out that the PA security apparatuses in Jenin kidnap almost everyday a group of Hamas supporters and cadres, adding that they escalated their kidnapping campaign against Hamas nowadays in conjunction with the current Egyptian efforts to instigate inter-Palestinian dialog in Cairo.