Palestinian prison riot quelled

Police have used tear gas to put down a riot by Palestinian prisoners at a high-security jail in southern Israel.

The Israeli authorities said the disturbance began when inmates resisted attempts to search cells at Shikma prison in the Mediterranean city of Ashkelon.

Guards are said to have initiated the search after discovering a map of the jail on a prisoner.

The Israeli Prisons Service said that although several prisoners suffered from the effects of the gas, no-one was seriously injured.

"The incident is now over and the situation is calm," according to a Prisons Service official quoted by Reuters news agency.

The high security prison holds more than 650 prisoners, the vast majority of them Palestinians.

Prisoner releases

Palestinian officials in contact with the prisoners reportedly said that the riot was not connected with Palestinian demands for Israel to free prisoners as part of the US-led peace process for the region.

In a statement, the Prisons Service said: "Following the discovery of a slip of paper hidden on a security prisoner from Shikma prison, with a sketch of Shikma prison on it, it was decided to search his cell as well as the cells of other inmates in the prison.

"The prisoners vigorously resisted the entry of guards... banging on their doors and throwing sharp objects and burning papers."