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| Middle East |
| Shin Bet nabs Hamas cell planning to snatch soldier |
| 2002-12-24 |
| The Shin Bet security service has seized two armed Hamas men who crossed into Israel from Egypt's Sinai peninsula and planned to kidnap an IDF soldier as a bargaining chip for the release of militants held by Israel. The two were captured on December 15, at the end of a pursuit punctuated by gunfire near the Israeli border region of Nitzana, but authorities cleared the incident for publication only on Tuesday. The arrested men, Iyad and Abed al-Bassast Mahmoum of Rafah,, were armed with a handgun and a grenade and were lightly injured in the pursuit. They told investigators that they had stolen across the border intending to abduct IDF troops and take them to the Gaza Strip, and then begin negotiations aimed at winning the release of jailed comrades. Getting shorthanded, are you? They admitted that they had been sent on their mission by the Hamas military arm in the Gaza Strip. Their Hamas handler was Salem Mahmoum, a Rafah resident close to Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, one of Israel's most-wanted men and the target of a number of attempted Israeli assassinations. On Monday, a senior IDF commander in the territories warned settlers not to hitchhike. He cited warnings that terrorists might abduct settlers for use as bargaining chips in negotiations with Israel. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 They have succeeded in those sorts of attacks a few times in the past. |
| Posted by: mattj 2002-12-25 00:20:09 |
| #1 And just how exactly were they going to do the abduction? Thats a plan i'd like to see. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-12-24 15:59:07 |