WORLD : Masked Israelis Capture Palestinian

JERUSALEM — Israeli troops posed as ax-wielding Arab militants to capture a wanted Palestinian this week, but he threw himself from a window and was critically injured, security sources said today.

Palestinian sources said seven soldiers wearing masks and checkered Arab headdresses and carrying axes and knives raided a house in Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank Tuesday night.

Issam Saruji, 25, sought by the security forces since the start of the 21-month-old Palestinian uprising, jumped from a third-floor window to escape. He suffered multiple fractures and was in a coma, Israeli security sources said.

It was the latest in a growing number of incidents in which Israeli security forces have used controversial disguises or commandeered Arab cars to capture or kill wanted militants.