Palestinian group denies leader was in coma

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian resistance group based in the Gaza Strip, has denied reports that its secretary-general Ramadan Shallah was in a coma.

Media reports earlier said that Shallah, 60, was comatose after a series of operations in Lebanon, where he is based.

In a statement on Tuesday, Islamic Jihad said Shallah had recently undergone a heart surgery.

“His condition is stable and is subject to medical follow-up," the group said.

Palestinian news agency Quds Press earlier said, citing a source close to Islamic Jihad, Shallah had fallen into a coma after he underwent a heart surgery in Beirut.

The agency also said that a security official at the Palestinian Embassy in Beirut had raised suspicions that the group chief might have been poisoned, pointing the finger at Israel’s Mossad spy agency or a “security apparatus or a regional state”, without elaborating.

A co-founder of Islamic Jihad, Shallah was elected the group’s secretary-general in 1995.

Shallah is on the FBI’s list of most wanted for allegedly conspiring to carry out attacks against Israel.