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By MOHAMMED MAR’I

Published: Oct 15, 2011 22:59 Updated: Oct 15, 2011 22:59

RAMALLAH: The Israeli Prisons Service (IPS) will not ease restrictions imposed on jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, a senior Palestinian official said on Saturday.

Issa Qaraqi’, the Palestinian Minister of Detainees and Ex-detainees, said that the IPS decided to prolong the solitary confinement of Barghouthi until further notice “after recommendations from Shin Bet (Israel’s internal intelligence agency).”

Al-Barghouthi was placed in solitary confinement in the Hadarim prison last July after he urged the Palestinians to took to the streets in September to support the Palestinian leadership in its bid obtain recognition of an independent state from the United Nations.

Barghouthi, who has headed every prisoner release list demanded by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas in negotiations with Israel and is not among those being released, was sentenced in an Israeli court to five life sentences in 2004 for masterminding attacks that killed five Israelis and wounded many more.

He had been frequently mentioned in recent years as a possible alternative to Abbas in the future as polls have ranked him as the third most popular choice for leadership. He was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in absentia in 2006 and is seen by many Palestinians as a national hero and the most popular figure on the Palestinian street.