More escapees recaptured

Israeli police said Saturday they have arrested two more prison escapees, bringing the number recaptured to four since a group of Palestinians broke out of a maximum-security prison last week.

Two escapees remain at large. But the latest arrests moved Israel closer to closing an embarrassing episode that exposed deep flaws in its prison system and turned the fugitive prisoners into Palestinian heroes.

Early Saturday, police said they had caught two men, including Zakaria Zubeidi, hiding in a parking lot in the Arab town of Umm al-Ghanam. Zubeidi was a militant leader during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s.

The Israeli Haaretz news site, quoting an unidentified defense official, said Zubeidi and fellow fugitive Mohammed Aradeh had been hiding outdoors.

Earlier, two other prisoners were arrested in Nazareth, an Arab city in northern Israel just west of Umm al-Ghanam.