Last update - 19:06 06/07/2002
Egypt says surprised by furor over Los Angeles shooting
By Zohar Blumenkrantz and Benny Landau, Ha'aretz Correspondents, Ha'aretz Service and agencies
CAIRO -
Egypt's foreign minister expressed surprise on Saturday at the furore over a deadly attack by an Egyptian national at Los Angeles airport, saying the motives were still unclear and similar incidents occurred frequently.
Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters in Cairo that such incidents occur repeatedly in the United States and other countries and said he was surprised by the exaggeration of this event in particular.
"Until now, nobody knows the motives behind this incident. We have to await the outcome of the current investigations so that we can review them," MENA quoted Maher as saying.
Egypt's semi-official al-Ahram daily said on Saturday that local security authorities had no information on record about Hadayet and there was no evidence he had any links to extremist activities when he lived in Egypt.
Ex-employee of El Al gunman tells NY Times: 'He had hate for Israel' In an interview to The New York Times published Saturday, a former employee of the Egyptian who shot dead two people and wounded seven others at the El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday that he "often heard his boss express virulent anti-Israeli sentiments."
Hesham Mohammed Hadayet, a 41-year-old Egyptian, "had hate for Israel, for sure," Syrian-born Abdul Zahab told The New York Times. "He told me that the Israelis tried to destroy the Egyptian nation and the Egyptian population by sending prostitutes with AIDS to Egypt. He said that the two biggest drug dealers in New York are Israeli."
Hadayet was shot dead by an El Al security official soon after opening fire on the crowd of people queuing at the ticket counter.
El Al flight LY 106 from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport in the early hours of Saturday morning, after its delay following Thursday night's shooting attack.
The plane was carrying 119 passengers. Some 40 passengers elected to remain in the United States until after Shabbat, Israel Radio reported.
The flight was due to fly to Tel Aviv with a stop over in Toronto. It was scheduled to land in Israel at 4 P.M. Friday.
The FBI said Friday it had no indication suggesting that the attack was an act of terrorism, but said the gunman's motive was still unclear. (Click here for a look inside El Al security.)
"He was not on any FBI or FAA watch list," FBI agent Richard Garcia told a news conference. He added that authorities still had several days work to do "to determine whether this person acted in an act of terrorism."
"We have not determined whether he had any anti-Israeli views," Garcia said, adding that it was still "very difficult to determine the exact motive" for the shooting.
The FBI said earlier that Hadayet apparently was not connected to any terror organizations, and probably acted on his own.
Hadayet, who also goes by the last name Ali, was a legal resident who worked as a limousine driver, FBI spokesman Matt McLaughlin said. The motive remained uncertain and there was no evidence anyone else was involved, McLaughlin said.
The FBI spokesman suggested that the attack might fall into the category of a hate crime and said the man was heavily armed.
The White House also said Friday that there was no indication suggesting that the attack was the work of terrorists.
"There is no evidence, no indication at this time that this is terrorists," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Friday. He added that President George W. Bush extended his condolences to the victims.
The two people killed at the attack at El Al's ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport were identified as Ya'akov Aminov, 47, and El Al stewardess Vicky Chen, both of them residents of Los Angeles, Israel Radio reported Friday morning. (Click here for more on the victims.)
FBI agents searched Hadayet's apartment Friday in the southern California city of Irvine after finding his car in a parking lot at the airport hours after the shooting. Neighbors told police the man's wife and two children were in Egypt.
Hadayat lived in the United States since 1992. He was not a U.S. citizen, but had a green card enabling him to work in the country.
FBI officials also said that Hadayat did not speak during the attack, contradicting earlier eye-witness reports that he shouted "He took my job" during the shooting.
Egyptian police question gunman's father and wife Egyptian police questioned Hadayet's father and wife, security guards at the father's apartment building said Friday.
The police police arrived at the apartment of Hadayet's father in downtown Cairo on Friday morning, the building's security guards said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The husband of Hesham Hadayet's aunt, Hassan Mostafa Mahfouz, said Hadayet's wife and sister were taken away for questioning by Egyptian intelligence.
He said the family was waiting for confirmation from the American Embassy about Hesham's involvement. "We want to be sure if he is behind the attack."
Mahfouz said that July 4 was Hadayet's birthday and that Hadayet had called his father on Thursday as he knew his father would want to wish him happy birthday.
Israel: L.A. shooting was terror attack Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh reiterated Friday that the shooting was an apparent act of terror, saying that the it was a "logical assumption" that the incident was a terrorist attack, in an interview to CNN.
"We are going to assume that it's a terror attack until proven otherwise," the minister told Israel Radio on Friday.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Yaffa Ben-Ari issued a statement saying: "The terrorists deliberately chose the Fourth of July to carry out their crime on the soil of the United States."
Did you by chance hear about an older son - age 18? One of the first stories about this guy mentioned an 18-year old teenage son (did not say if he lived at home), but later stories only mention two younger children. I wonder if the first story was wrong. I'm still looking for the source of that original story.
I heard that he was married previously and his former wife and son are living in Egpyt.
Thank you! This detail was driving me nuts; I hate 'loose ends', particularly when they deal with terror.
