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Police asked the public for help in locating British national Omar Khan Sharif, who fled after failing to detonate an explosive belt at a Tel Aviv pub.
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05/01
Haaretz |
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04/30
Reuters |
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| By Ellis Shuman May 1, 2003 |
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In an unprecedented move, Israel Police and the Shin Bet security service turned to the Israeli public and asked for help in locating British national Omar Khan Sharif, who fled after failing to detonate an explosive belt at a Tel Aviv pub early Wednesday morning. Sharif's partner, also a British citizen, exploded at the pub, killing three Israelis and wounding 55 others. The two terrorists entered Israel from Gaza, police said.
Sharif's picture was broadcast on Israel television Wednesday night. His passport, issued to him in October 1996, listed him as being born in Derby in 1976. Police urged the public to be on the lookout for him, saying that Sharif spoke fluent English but may have altered his appearance. Police believe that Sharif is still somewhere in central Israel.
Maariv reported that police switchboards were flooded with calls from anxious citizens who believed that they had possibly spotted Sharif in the Tel Aviv area. A high alert was still in force Thursday morning as police continued the manhunt.
Most of the details of the police investigation are still not being made public. According to media reports, Sharif entered Israel from the Gaza Strip with fellow terrorist Asif Mohammed Hanif, 21, a few hours before the Tel Aviv bombing. Apparently they used their British passports to enter the country. The two are the first terrorist bombers who have succeeded in infiltrating into Israel from Gaza since the start of the Intifada.
"The two terrorists are British nationals who entered Israel from the Gaza Strip," an Israeli police spokesman confirmed. "One blew himself up... and the other failed to set off his load and managed to escape after scuffling with onlookers and dumping the bomb," the spokesman said.
After a security guard prevented him from entering Mike's Place, a popular seafront promenade pub with a live jazz performance, Hanif blew himself up, killing three Israelis - Yanai Weiss, 46; Ran Baron, 23; and Dominique Caroline Hess, 29, a recent new immigrant from France.
Both Hamas and the Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade claimed responsibility for the Tel Aviv bombing, but security forces are not ruling out the involvement of foreign terrorist organizations such as Hizbullah and al-Qaida, Army Radio reported.
Police are investigating who assisted Sharif and Hanif in getting to Tel Aviv; whether they brought the explosives with them from Gaza or received them in Israel; whether the explosives contained chemical materials that caused an unusually large number of burn injuries among the wounded; and whether the terrorists actually planned to attack the United States Embassy, located a short distance away from Mike's Place.
British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien told BBC television the British government would cooperate fully with Israel to establish who the bombers were. "The Israelis are in consultation with us at the moment about getting some information, and I understand the Home Office will do all it can to enable the Israelis to identify who these individuals were, if indeed they are British subjects," he said.
The Tel Aviv bombing was not the first time terrorists bearing British passports perpetrated terror attacks. In 1996, a Hizbullah terrorist entered Israel on a fake British passport and was seriously injured when the bomb he was preparing exploded. In 2001, British citizen Gerard Schumann, operating on behalf of Hizbullah, was arrested in east Jerusalem.
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