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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Hezbollah claims Tel Aviv bombing |
| 2005-02-27 |
| A senior Hezbollah operative told two top Palestinian militants in the West Bank that he recruited the suicide bomber who blew himself up outside a Tel Aviv nightclub in an attack that killed four Israelis, the militants said Saturday. The militants, local leaders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, said the operative, Kais Obeid, called them after the bombing and asked them to claim responsibility for the attack. The two militants, one speaking from Ramallah and the other from the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, said they turned down the request because they feared they would be targeted by Israeli or Palestinian security forces. Obeid told the Al Aqsa leaders he had recruited Palestinians from the West Bank town of Tulkarem to carry out the bombing, the two militant leaders said on condition of anonymity. Obeid said he paid money to the Tulkarem cell but would not say how much. Obeid was vague about whether the bomber and his local handlers had ties to Palestinian militant groups, the two Al Aqsa leaders said. In Tulkarem, Palestinian security forces on Saturday arrested two men in connection with the suicide bombing. Security forces said the two had ties to the militant Islamic Jihad group. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, has stepped up efforts in recent weeks to derail a Feb. 8 truce declared by the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Hezbollah has hundreds of West Bank gunmen on its payroll, most from Al Aqsa, a violent group with ties to Abbas' ruling Fatah Party. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Hokay, we can blame them too. Hezbollah, Syria, Fatah, al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades, you're all on the hook. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2005-02-27 6:16:03 PM |