Palestinian reporter for Iranian agency beaten in West Bank

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian reporter working for an Iranian news agency was briefly abducted, beaten and threatened by Palestinian gunmen. The incident happened on Tuesday, after he covered the violent dispersal of an Islamist student demonstration in the West Bank. The Tasnim news agency, which reported the event Thursday, says the men forced the reporter into a car at gunpoint, beat him and threatened him. According to Tasnim, the men said his coverage harmed the Palestinian Authority and the secular Fatah movement that dominates it. He was released around a half hour later. Khuaira identified one of his abductors as a member of Palestinian security forces. The Palestinian Journalists Union condemned the attack on their colleague. There was no comment from Palestinian officials.