The French government on Thursday strongly criticized the treatment by Israeli police of a Palestinian human rights activist and two deputies from the European Parliament.

"France is shocked by the arrest Wednesday in Jerusalem of Mustapha Barghouti, a Palestinian figure known for his humanitarian and pacifist commitment," French foreign ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau told journalists in Paris.

He went on to say that the government "deplored the violence committed against (Barghouti) and against others, including deputies of the European Parliament".

Barghouti was taken into custody by Israeli police officers following a press conference he held Wednesday in the American Colony hotel in a part of eastern Jerusalem annexed by Israel.

He was accused of entering the area without permission from Israeli authorities.

Barghouti was taken to the main Jerusalem police station, where he was interrogated for nearly three hours.

He claimed that Israeli police struck him in the face and broke his knee.

While Barghouti was being interrogated, some 50 European human rights activists protested outside the police station, including two European deputies, Ulla Sandbaek of Denmark and the Italian Luisa Morgantini.

Half an hour after he was released from police custody where he was questioned about being in East Jerusalem illegally, Barghouti was arrested again by Border Police at the A Ram checkpoint north of Jerusalem yesterday.

The Border Patrolmen struck European Parliament MP Louisa Morgantini, and threw tear gas grenades and shock grenades into a crowd of French human rights activists who tried to prevent Barghouti's arrest. Several activists, including Palestinians, were beaten even after Barghouti himself was dragged away by the Border Patrolmen.

Barghouti, head of the Palestinian Medical Society, a non-government organization that runs a network of some 25 clinics in the West Bank and Gaza, had been attending a press conference in the American Colony Hotel in east Jerusalem. The conference was to sum up a two-week visit by some 450 European and American human rights activists who had visited the PA. Immediately after the press conference he was arrested, on suspicion if being in Jerusalem illegally. He told the police he was born in Jerusalem and that he was in occupied East Jerusalem. He was released after signing a statement saying he would stay out of Israeli territory unless equipped with an authorization.

About 30 meters north of the A Ram checkpoint, where he was taken by car, Barghouti gave an interview to the media, until he was arrested the second time. According to checkpoint Border Patrol commander Yaniv Gamliel, he wanted Barghouti arrested because the doctor was standing in the checkpoint area in a "provocative" manner, inviting journalists to interview him. But even before he gave the order, the checkpoint's police received orders from the Benjamin district Border Patrol headquarters to arrest Barghouti to check whether he belongs to a Palestinian organization.