There, that's better.
Posted on 05/05/2003 10:12:49 AM PDT by yonif
The two British terrorists involved in last week's suicide bombing of a Tel Aviv bar met at the end of April with activists from the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah, a member of the movement said Monday.
Three people were killed and scores wounded in the bombing at the beachfront Mike's Place bar, when one of the Britons, Asif Hanif, blew himself up at the crowded nightspot. The bomb carried by Omar Sharif, the second Briton, did not detonate, and he fled the scene.
ISM member Raphael Cohen told a news conference Monday that he met the two men on Friday, April 25, five days before the bombing. He said that a group of 15 people met in an apartment in Rafah that belongs to the movement.
Along with four Britons from London, who planned to establish a summer camp in Gaza, the meeting included three Italians, and the two bombers. Cohen said that he and another five ISM members attended the meeting, in which tea was served and general questions were asked about the participants' identities and plans in Rafah.
Cohen said that the two Britons answered that they did not belong to any particular groups, but rather were "alternative tourists" in the territories. He said that the ISM members were at the apartment for 15 minutes before leaving for a memorial ceremony for ISM's Rachel Corrie who was killed by the IDF last month.
In recent months, the two were students in Damascus, where it appears they were recruited by one of the terror groups in the Syrian capital. A few weeks before the bombing, they crossed from Jordan via the Allenby Bridge border crossing. As far as is known, they were not detained or questioned. Among their possessions were explosives which, according to Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, were concealed in a copy of the Koran.
According to the London Times, the two lived in a Tel Aviv hostel before traveling to the Gaza Strip. On arriving in Gaza, they made contact with local terror cells, and felt safe enough to cross back into Israel at least one more time. On crossing the Erez checkpoint, they did not raise any suspicions of security personnel.
I would be interested in the details of the proposed Gaza "summer camp". Could it be yet another training camp for Pali terrorists?
There, that's better.
But, haven't you forgotten something?
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