 |
 |
 |
|
|
Muhammad Saqsaq, the murderer (photo supplied by terror group)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Ynetnews January 29, 2007 |
|
| |
 Bookmark to del.icio.us |
| |
The suicide bomber who blew himself up Monday morning in an Eilat bakery tried to hitch rides to the center of the city, according to the testimony given by Lt. Col. Yossi Woltinsky.
Woltinsky picked up the terrorist Monday morning, but asked him to get out of his car when his suspicions were aroused. Immediately after, he notified the police.
With a little luck and determination, the terrorist could have been caught before he managed to carry out his atrocity.
Woltinsky left his house around 9:00 a.m. On his way to the Sport Hotel, as he does every morning, he looked for workers who missed their ride to the hotels. Ten minutes into his morning commute, he picked up a man wearing a red jacket, a red hat, and a backpack. Woltinksy asked the man where he needed to go, but the passenger didn't talk, and instead, directed him with his hand to drive toward the city.
"I identified a man whom I thought was one of the hotel workers," said Woltinsky. "Immediately as he got in the car, I sensed that there was a problem. I asked him where he wants to go, and he pointed to the center of the city. At first, I undid my seatbelt in case he attacked me or something like that."
Woltinsky sensed that something was amiss, and started driving toward the bypass road in order to avoid residential neighborhoods.
On what happened during the rest of the drive, he said, "He pointed with his hand in a threatening way to drive within the city. At that moment, I stopped the car in the middle of the road. I was prepared to jump. At this juncture, I ordered him to get out of the car. At that very moment, I called the police."
Woltinsky explained to his passenger that he had to go straight in order to get to the city, thus directing him along a non-residential route. At the same time, he called the police to alert them of the suspicious man, and gave them a full description of him. Simultaneously, he tried to follow the suspect in his car. However, the terrorist strayed from the road and started to run.
After Woltinsky found about the terror attack, he reconstructed the last movements of the terrorist to Eilat Police, and identified him as the hitchhiker he picked up in the morning.
Bomber's brother: We're happy Muhammad is the hero
"The whole family was very happy when it heard that Muhammad is the hero who carried out the attack," said Naim Saqsaq, the brother of Muhammad Saqsaq, who carried out the suicide attack in Eilat that killed three people.
"We knew that he was waiting and praying for this moment. He always said, 'If only I could be a shahid, if only I could carry out an attack.' And here Allah gave him the privilege," he told Ynet.
The brother recounted that Muhammad was an unemployed construction worker. He was married. His only daughter died from disease three weeks ago.
"He was always in the mindset of the fighters. When the Israelis were invading Gaza, he participated in the battles in Jabalya and Beit Hanoun. He was waiting for this moment. The truth is that we knew that at some point he would be killed in a confrontation with the Israelis and would be a shahid. Because of this, we are happy that God gave him what he asked for."
Naim told that he saw his brother for the last time four days ago. "I don't know how to explain the reports that the attack was prepared over many long months. In my opinion, he went on his way four days ago. I don't know where to," he explained.
Cleanly shaven, wearing jeans
According to Naim, his brother was a very religious person who always expressed hope that Hamas and Fatah and all the Palestinians would unite, and would stop fighting against one another, instead focusing their efforts to fight against "the Zionist enemy."
The brother recounted that Muhammad was very pained recently, and always said that he wished he has some way of doing something to end the confrontation within the Palestinian Authority.
Naim Saqsaq said that in his opinion, by carrying out the terror attack, he wanted to send the message: "There is no place for killing and internal war, and that we should only fight against 'the Zionist enemy.'"
According to Naim, "He got his wish, and we got this honor. The people in the mourners' tent in Beit Lahiya are praising us for this action that came at such a difficult and sensitive time for the Palestinians -- a time in which Palestinian blood is being spilled."
One of Muhammad's friends told Ynet that he saw him for the last time on Thursday, and he looked different. "I am used to seeing him with a beard, but on this day he was cleanly shaven and had a short haircut like an American Marines soldier. This was the first time I saw him with gel in his hair and in jeans," said the friend.
"I asked him where he was going with this whole getup. He didn't answer, but he looked very happy to me. He laughed and joked. When he said bye to me, he didn't say 'Salam alaykum,' as is customary for believers, but said, 'Bye bye' -- something he had never said," recounted the friend. |
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
