Palestinians fire official who criticized activist's death

President Mahmoud Abbas has fired the director of the Palestinian national library after he criticized the government over the death of an activist in the custody of Palestinian security forces

JERUSALEM -- President Mahmoud Abbas has fired the director of the Palestinian national library after he criticized the government over the death of an activist in the custody of Palestinian security forces. In a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, Ehab Bessaiso was removed from the post, as well as from the library's board of directors. The letter, dated June 27 and signed by Abbas, did not give a reason for the dismissal. But it came three days after Bessaiso wrote a long Facebook post that criticized the death of Nizar Banat, an outspoken critic of the Palestinian Authority. “Nothing justifies committing a crime,” wrote Bessaiso, a former Cabinet minister and government spokesman. “Killing a human being is a crime, no matter how blurry, ambiguous and emotional the picture seems.”