RAMALLAH, Nov. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) condemned on Sunday sentencing Abdel Rahim Mallouh, deputy chairman of the group, to seven years in an Israeli prison.

    Mallouh is deputy to PFLP Chairman Ahmed Sa'adat, who is also imprisoned by Israel in the West Bank town of Jericho.

    Mallouh is a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, chaired by Mahmoud Abbas who took over after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat passed away on Nov. 11.

    The PFLP, a left-wing Palestinian party, circulated a leaflet, condemning the Israeli move.

    "Sentencing Mallouh shows how the Israeli government is using anarbitrary logic and neglecting the international law and pursuing its repressive policy and using its courts to sentence the Palestinian people," said the leaflet.

    The Palestinian National Authority also condemned the arrest of Mallouh, calling on Israel to release him as soon as possible.

    Mallouh has been jailed since he was arrested in Ramallah in 2002. Enditem