Israeli intelligence claims it has detailed evidence proving that Yasser Arafatâs West Bank compound is a refuge for some of the most wanted Palestinian terrorist suspects and a nerve centre for "martyr" attacks.
According to senior officials, a growing band of men wanted on suspicion of planning suicide bombings and murdering settlers is being sheltered in the compound, known as the Muqata. The evidence that Mr Arafat, 74, is at the apex of a terrorist infrastructure is being used by some Israeli ministers to argue that he should be killed in an air strike, as Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the Hamas terror group, was last week. With Yassin removed, the Shin Bet - Israelâs domestic intelligence agency - and military intelligence units in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are shifting their crosshairs to the other ailing old man who, they insist, inspires and directs terrorism. One senior Israeli intelligence official said Mr Arafat did not give specific orders but - "Yes, yes, yes, for sure" - directed and financed terrorism. He said: "Arafat does not tell them what to do every morning but the terrorists understand his direction. They understand the message behind the words, the goal, and they act accordingly.
does this sentence remind anyone else of acounts of Hitlers last year in power?
Mr Arafat, the Palestinian Authority chairman, has been confined to his West Bank compound for more than two years. His personal quarters have been rebuilt after shelling but outside piles of rubble and cars crushed by tanks bear witness to Israeli operations. An IDF document headed "confidential" and obtained by the Telegraph lists 17 wanted members of the al-Aqsa Martyrsâ Brigades and Tanzim militia, both part of Mr Arafatâs Fatah movement, who are said to be sheltering in the Mukata. Top of the list is Kamel Ghanem, 27, Ramallah commander of the al-Aqsa group and alleged co-ordinator of terrorist cells. He is accused of planning several suicide bombings and of having taken part in gun attacks. Number two is Khaled Shawish, a senior Tanzim fugitive with alleged links to Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Shawish is wheelchair-bound, like Yassin,
after a failed Israeli assassination attempt.
expect him to excelerate from 0 to 250 after a Hellfire makes contact with the back of his chair pretty soon
Significantly, a senior defence official noted, "Number two goes for medical treatment in Ramallah", suggesting that Shawish was also vulnerable to Israelâs Apache attack helicopters because of his predictable movements.
Nice
Sadah Abdullah, a nurse who worked for the Palestinian Red Crescent, confessed last month to interrogators that Shawish had given her messages for Hezbollah when she visited the Mukata. "He sits in the Mukata in a safe haven and he recruited the nurse who treated him," one of Israelâs most senior security officials revealed. "She was arrested when she was on her way to lead a suicide bomber into Jerusalem."
and this b**** is still breathing?
Another on the wanted list is Mohammed Damra, known as Abu Awad, the commander of Force 17, Mr Arafatâs presidential guard, and a close confidant of the PA leader. "He is a commander of terrorist actions, even suicide actions," said the official.
Force 17, meet force 21, we will give you a headstart of 5 seconds, start running
Under pressure from the Israelis, Mr Arafat forced Ghanem and Shawish to leave the Mukata last August but they have since returned. IDF commanders are exasperated that they have so far been refused permission to target the men. "It would take me half an hour to kill or capture all of them but there is an Israeli political directive not to do so," said one officer. Israelâs official policy is that Mr Arafat should be "removed" from Ramallah at an opportune moment. Last week Israeli ministers were at pains to stress that no Palestinian leader involved in terrorism was immune from military action. Israeli policy of targeted assassination was taken to a new level with the death of Yassin, a revered Palestinian figure. Mr Arafat, also a symbol of Palestinian resistance, has appealed to the United Nations for protection. Until now, the PA leader has benefited from American opposition to his assassination. Mr Bush has declined to condemn the Yassin strike, however, and has now rewarded Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, with a White House meeting in April.
IIRC a recent poll stated that 74% of Americans would not that upset if Israel deceided to kill Ole Yeller Yasser
The issue of Mr Arafatâs future will be high on the agenda. Al-Aqsa Martyrsâ Brigades have been behind several recent suicide attacks, including the last two bus bombings in Jerusalem that killed 19 people and wounded more than 160. One more atrocity could signal the end for Mr Arafat. "A lot of suicide attacks were prepared and carried out by Fatah, and Fatah is controlled from the Mukata," said another senior intelligence official. Asked whether wanted men were being given refuge in the Mukata, Jibril Rajoub, the PAâs senior adviser, said: "I think that this is not more than an excuse from the Israelis. Itâs not true."
After that he said, quoting from one of the greatest comments on Rantburg thus far: "Ca you haâd e y ips? thaâks"
When the Telegraph put the accusation to Mr Arafat, he waved the inquiry away, saying: "Later, later."
| "Go away, boy! Y'bother me!" |
Israeli officials said that Abu Firas, the governor of Ramallah and an influential Arafat adviser, had been handed the list of the wanted men but the PA had repeatedly failed to act on it. Mr Firas denied the charge. Shown the confidential document, he said that he had seen it only "on the internet" and that none of the men was in the Mukata.
Insert the sound of thousands of surprise meters baing tapped here
"There is no wanted person there," he said. "This is not the main issue. We are all wanted and we are all chased." 
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