PA says no confirmation Sarsak has ended strike

The Palestinian Authority cannot confirm claims that Mahmoud al-Sarsak ended his 85-day hunger strike on Monday, the prisoner affairs minister said. Issa Qaraqe told the official Voice of Palestine radio that his ministry received no information to confirm al-Sarsak had started eating. Israel's Prison Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman told Agence France-Presse on Monday that al-Sarsak had ended his hunger strike. She said the detained soccer player had given no reason for ending the strike. Weizman could not be reached by Ma'an for comment. Al-Sarsak went on hunger strike on March 19 to demand his release. He has been imprisoned in Israel without charge or trial since his arrest in July 2009.