Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, under public pressure...

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, under public pressure for a quick death sentence and execution, approved of a speedy trial in the Nablus state security court for Bilal Shaqo, 22, who was accused of raping a four-year-old girl. The proceedings of the state security court opened in a makeshift courtroom , and began just six hours after 3,000 people massed in the city centre for a demonstration organised by Fatah to demand the death penalty. Prosecutor Abdel-Latif Abdel-Fatah suggested during his opening remarks that "there is no need for a (defence) lawyer," because the case was so clear-cut. A Fatah leaflet read, "not less than the death penalty. The punishment should be carried out in public. This should be a lesson for others and be revenge for this crime." Bilal Shako was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. The sentence prompted a protest hours later by about 2,000 people who demanded the death penalty. Attorney-General for the State Security Courts, Khaled Kidra, said ,"We gave the accused the maximum penalty according to our laws." But Khader Shkirat, director of the Palestinian human-rights group LAW, stated that the law did provide for the death penalty in rapes, but that the Palestinian Authority had not wanted to impose it because of fears of "international and local criticism." "This was a mock trial," he added.