A family source said he had been summoned for questioning and had not returned. No reason was given for the arrest.

On Saturday Hamas' armed wing claimed responsibility for an attack on Jewish settlers in the flash-point West Bank town of Hebron, and warned the attacks would go on. ``We were able to carry out the attack despite security agreements between the Palestinian Authority and the Zionist enemy,'' said the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades in a statement dated Tuesday, the day of the attack that left two Jewish settlers injured.

``The jehad (holy war) and the attacks against our enemy will not stop,'' warned the statement, which was only released on Saturday. But Hamas denied remarks attributed to its spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin by the French daily Liberation, saying that they had been distorted and quoted out of context.Ismael Haniye, the head of Yassin's office, said the paper had made additions, based on a superficial and personal analysis.Liberation quoted Yassin as voicing his approval of the Hebron attack, but refraining from saying whether his group was behind it, as ``the military wing is completely separate from us.''

``The days to come will show that the military wing still exists,'' he was also quoted as saying, adding that accords signed between Israel and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Palestinian autonomy should be scrapped.

-- Agence France Presse