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Britain's Ambassador to Israel Sherard Cowper-Coles looks at the 'Mike's Place' bar in Tel Aviv after the suicide attack by two British men. (AFP)
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05/02
The Independent |
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05/02
The Daily Telegraph |
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05/02
Haaretz |
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| By Ellis Shuman May 2, 2003 |
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Omar Khan Sharif and Asif Mohammed Hanif, the two terrorists who staged a suicide bombing attack at a seafront Tel Aviv pub early Wednesday morning, killing three Israelis and wounding more than fifty, entered Israel from the Gaza Strip disguised as "peace activists" and were in contact with the International Solidarity Movement in Gaza, British newspapers reported today. Israel now plans to ban pro-Palestinian activists from entering the country and expel those who are already here.
In the bombing, which occurred at crowded Mike's Place next to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv just after 1 a.m. Wednesday, Hanif blew himself up when a security guard prevented him from entering. Sharif was also wearing an explosive belt that malfunctioned; he scuffled with bystanders and fled the scene. Police found the belt and neutralized it. In an unprecedented move, Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency released Sharif's picture to the media and asked the public's help in locating him.
The Independent reported that the two entered Israel from the Gaza Strip in a Palestinian taxi, telling the Israeli soldiers at the border crossing that they were tourists traveling with the Alternative Tourism Group, a company specializing in tours to "gain deeper insight into the difficulties facing grassroots peace initiatives in the Middle East."
According to the paper, Sharif came to Israel at the beginning of April and toured the country for a while before going to the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian owner of a taxi company that transports people from the Erez crossing at the northern end of the Gaza Strip said he saw both terrorists cross into Gaza on April 22.
"It was unclear if this was to receive orders, obtain explosives or establish their cover," the Daily Telegraph reported.
According to the British press, the two men met first in Damascus. It is unclear if they met in Gaza with representatives of Hamas, which claimed joint responsibility with the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade for the Tel Aviv attack, or were working on behalf of Islamic Jihad, Hizbullah or even al-Qaida.
Human rights sources told the Guardian that Sharif and Hanif arrived at the offices of the International Solidarity Movement in Rafah and made contact with its members just days before the bombing.
The contact with the ISM, which has organized human shields and peace protests, could prove vital to the Israeli security services as they try to piece together the movements of the pair following their entry to the country.
One activist, who asked not to be named, recognized the pair when they were shown on Israeli TV, the Guardian reported. He spoke to them last Friday at the spot where American human shield Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israeli bulldozer. He said: "They did not seem tense or edgy. You didn't get the impression they were planning to carry out a suicide bombing within a few days.
"They were of Asian descent but they were very British. As soon as I heard their names on the television my heart sank. I didn't need to see the pictures. When they showed their passports on the TV, it was them."
The London office of the ISM was horrified by the contact with its sister office, the Guardian reported. John Heaney, a spokesman for the ISM, said: "I know for a fact they did not come through us in London.
"This is totally against what we believe in both as individuals and as a group. I've never met any kind of extremists out there among the peace protesters either with our group or any of the others we work with. My belief is that the whole movement is against violence."
A Western pro-Palestinian activist said the two later took part in a protest march in Rafiah to commemorate Rachel Corrie, an American "human shield" killed by an Israeli bulldozer in mid-March, the paper said.
Britain and Israel cooperating in investigation
British Ambassador to Israel Sherard Cowper-Coles said on Thursday that British and Israeli intelligence services were cooperating in the investigation of the bombing. Israel Radio reported that investigators were checking if the terrorists' British passports were fake.
Scotland Yard said Sharif and Hanif were not known to police. The investigation in Britain will concentrate on their backgrounds, how they came to be radicals and whom they associated with in London, the Telegraph reported.
Israel to ban pro-Palestinian activists
Meanwhile, according to a new plan drafted by the IDF and the Foreign and Defense Ministries, Israel will from now on bar pro-Palestinian activists from entering the country and will try to expel at least some of the dozens of activists who are already here, Haaretz reported today.
Most of the activists belong to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Their goal is to act as "human shields" for Palestinian individuals and houses during IDF incursions into Palestinian towns, and they have often been involved in confrontations with IDF soldiers. In addition to Corrie's death, two other international "activists" have been seriously injured by Israeli gunfire during confrontations.
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