Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has been taken ill with respiratory problems, his organization and family members said Friday.
Yassin, 64, is being treated at home, but will be taken to hospital if his condition worsens, Hamas said in a statement.
Abed Yassin, son of the Hamas leader, confirmed to AFP that his father was sick and that he did not want to go to hospital for the time being.
Sheikh Yassin, who wheelchair bound, was last in hospital two months ago for eight days, his son said.
Hamas opposes the peace process with Israel and has carried out armed attacks against Israelis.
Yassin's health deteriorated during an eight-year stint in Israeli prisons.
The cleric, whose movement is the biggest Palestinian group opposed to peace accords signed with Israel by Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1989 for a series of deadly Hamas attacks on Israeli troops.
He was released in October 1997 in a deal with Jordan to obtain the freedom of Israeli agents captured after a botched attempt to assassinate another senior Hamas figure on the streets of Amman - GAZA CITY (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
