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| Israel-Palestine |
| Israel Links Islamic Jihad to Car Bomb (containing 1/2 ton of explosives) |
| 2005-03-01 |
| Edited for new stuff Israel on Tuesday linked the Islamic Jihad militant group, which claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing last week, to a failed attempt to blow up a car crammed with half a ton of explosives, the largest bomb built in more than four years of fighting here. Analysts believe the militants are members of a rogue cell directed by Islamic Jihad leaders abroad, against the wishes of local leaders who have agreed to halt attacks in Israel. Security officials revealed Tuesday that a captured Jihad militant told his interrogators of the car bomb plot, plans to carry out a rocket attack on the Israeli town of Afula and preparations for a double suicide bombing against a Jerusalem school. The militant, Jibril Zubeydi, was arrested two months ago, the security officials said on condition of anonymity. His brother, Zakariye Zubeydi, is a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant group in the West Bank town of Jenin. The military discovered the car filled with explosives parked Monday at a junction near Jenin when an officer noticed wires sticking out of it. A long cable snaking from the car was attached to a battery and video camera, which was to document the attack, military officials said. The army detonated the car bomb in a controlled explosion. The other two plots were also foiled, the military said. Cool picture in the Jerusalem Post article. Regional army commander Col. Oren Avman said the car contained some 1,100 pounds of explosives and said the officer who discovered it prevented "a huge disaster. Even an armored vehicle or bus could not withstand such a huge bomb," he told Israel Army Radio. Israeli analysts said the new violence was the result of an apparent fracture within the Islamic Jihad leadership, with the Damascus-based leaders determined to scuttle the fragile cease-fire. "The more pragmatic Gaza Strip-based leadership realizes it has to come to an agreement with the new Palestinian leadership," said Yoni Fighel, an expert on Islamic extremists at the Herzliya counterterrorism center. "But the leaders in Syria identify with the goals of Iran, Syria and the Hezbollah who are determined not to allow any normalization between Israel and the Palestinians," Fighel said. Fighel said the Damascus leaders have broken the traditional hierarchy of the group and are operating cells directly. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said those behind the bombing would have to be dealt with. "Obviously, when you have Palestinian Islamic Jihad taking responsibility, then something needs to be done about that because they are clearly challenging directly the Palestinian Authority," Rice said en route to London on Monday where she is attending a conference on Palestinian reform. The U.N. Security Council also condemned the bombing, but removed mention of the Islamic Jihad from the statement. Meaningless Warm Milk statement snipped. More details from the Jerusalem Post (free, but registration req'd,so here is the whole thing): A car loaded with hundreds of kilograms of explosives that had been prepared for attack by the same Islamic Jihad cell responsible for Friday night's suicide bombing was discovered by security forces between Arabeh and Mevoh Dotan south of Jenin Monday afternoon. A Nahal Brigade company commander spotted the red Volkswagon with wires protruding from it and alerted sappers to the site. According to the IDF Spokesman, the car, which was in the final stages of preparation for an attack, was discovered with a long cable protruding from it. The cable was attached to a battery and a video camera, intended for the documentation of the terrorist attack. Sappers detonated the car bomb in a controlled explosion. Security officials said that the same cell who launched Friday's attack in Tel Aviv were planning to infiltrate the car into Israel. On Saturday, Islamic Jihad claimed credit for the suicide bombing at The Stage nightclub which killed five and wounded 50. Earlier Monday, a senior source close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in reference to the Tel Aviv attack, "We have intelligence information that the orders came from the Islamic Jihad in Syria." "We know where the orders for the attack were issued, we know where they were sent, and we know Syrian intelligence was involved and provided logistical support," the source said. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the cabinet on Sunday that an Islamic Jihad cell in Jenin recruited the bomber from Tulkarm under orders from Damascus. Mofaz said that Israel had arrested Islamic Jihad operatives in Tulkarm. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 Sounds like it's time to rachet up the pressure on boy Assad. Maybe a Tomahawk attack on the offices of Hezbollah, IJ, and a couple of other terrorist groups operating openly in Damascus is in order. "You can't run, you can't hide, and you're too weak to fight". Or we could use the ruse I suggested in Vietnam: a flight of Buffs at max altitude with full ECM broadcasting, while all the naval aviation assets we can muster hitting from 100 feet. Now that we have assets in both the Med and in Iraq, I think a hard, swift strike against Syria is definitely in order, unless they put the lid on the jihadis. Since I doubt Assad even CAN control the jihadis, a hard hit is almost a given. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2005-03-01 3:15:56 PM |