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Murderer back in jail after 13 years on run

Mahmoud Sharaf fled to West Bank, got married, and had four children after failing to return from furlough in 2000

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By ToI Staff 30 October 2013, 12:34 am Edit

The Ayalon Prison complex in Ramle, central Israel. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

Convicted murderer Mahmoud Sharaf was arrested on Monday, 13 years after he failed to return from a prison furlough.

Members of the Israel Prison Services’ Masada unit captured Sharaf after intelligence sources discovered he was living in the West Bank city of Nablus under an assumed name. He was transferred to the Hadarim Prison and is expected to be put on trial for the lengthy prison break.

Sharaf was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1991 for the murder of a security guard in a botched bank robbery attempt.

In 2000, Sharaf and his two accomplices were granted a short leave from Ayalon Prison. The three fled to the West Bank and did not return.

While the two accomplices were subsequently arrested, Sharaf avoided detection. In the interim, he settled in Nablus, got married, and had four children.