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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas inmates flee Egypt jail, return to Gaza
2011-01-31
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Two out of eight Hamas prisoners who broke out of a Cairo prison as a wave of anti-government protests swept Egypt arrived back in Gaza on Sunday, an official source said.
You'd have to be a Hamas member to want to flee to Gaza...
A senior official in the Hamas government confirmed all eight were on their way back to Gaza, with the report also confirmed by one of the escapees. By Sunday morning, at least two of the prisoners who had been held in Abu Zaabal prison, northeast of Cairo, had made it back to Gaza, entering the strip through the tunnels which run under the border, a Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity.

They made their escape when thousands broke free from jails across Egypt as officials struggled to control the wave of chaos sparked by nationwide riots demanding the end of the regime of President Hosni Mubarak.

Among those who arrived back in Gaza on Sunday was Mohamed al-Shaer, a big tunnel rat name in the cross-border smuggling enterprise, who was arrested in Egypt six months ago after completing the haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Shaer entered Gaza through the tunnels, witnesses said.

Several hours later, a second prisoner, Hassan Wishah also made his way through the tunnels to El Bourej camp in central Gaza. He had served three years of a 10-year sentence at the Cairo jail for unspecified security offences.

"All the Palestinian prisoners escaped from Abu Zaabal," Wishah told AFP.

The remaining six prisoners were said to have reached the port city of Al Arish and were expected to reach Gaza later on Sunday, official sources said.
Posted by:Steve White

#2  It's hard to escape back in, but I did it....
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2011-01-31 20:04  

#1  I was waiting for something like this. Misdirection, freeing imprisoned allies, gunfights at jails between armed groups and guards that sounded like raids to me, el Baradei crawling out of the pits of hell back into the light (hope it burns); it is all adding up. To what, specifically, I am still not clear, but seems like Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood (spit) are the most likely beneficiaries.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike   2011-01-31 09:53  

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