Don't Answer the Phone

[Jeff Pawlowski <blackeagleblackeagle@xxxxxxxxx>]

Islamic Militant Buried in W. Bank

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH
.c The Associated Press

  
JENIN, West Bank (AP) - A Palestinian considered one
of Israel's most dangerous enemies was so certain
Israel's feared Shin Bet security service planned to
kill him that he had his photograph ready to be
distributed at his funeral. 

Death came when a booby-trapped public phone that he
used, apparently to contact fellow Islamic militants,
exploded with a blast that hurled the phone booth 30
feet into the air. 

Mindful that the Israelis might be listening in on his
mobile phone, Iyad Hardan, a leader in the radical
Islamic Jihad movement, thought he was being careful
by using the pay phone outside the jail where he was
held off-and-on by the Palestinian Authority. 

Hardan, 30, was buried Friday in his home village of
Arabe - the second Islamic Jihad member killed this
week amid military escalation on both sides. 

On Monday, two Israeli helicopters rocketed a pickup
truck in the Gaza Strip, killing Mohammed Abdel Al,
suspected by Israel of planting roadside bombs. 

Israel hinted at a new stage in its effort to put down
the Palestinian uprising, now in its seventh month.
Public Security Minister Uzi Landau said Friday that
Palestinian officials linked to attacks will not be
immune to retaliation, and Israeli forces should hit
Palestinian targets ``every day, hour after hour.'' 

Israel has a long-standing policy of evening scores.
After the 1972 Munich Olympics, Israeli agents hunted
down and assassinated Palestinians involved in taking
hostage Israeli athletes, 11 of whom died. 

In 1996, senior Hamas leader Yehiyeh Ayash, known as
``The Engineer'' because of his skill at assembling
bombs, died when his mobile phone exploded as he
answered a call. 

Reports published Friday in several Israeli newspapers
praised the killing of Hardan. ``This was a brilliant
demonstration of intelligence and operational
capabilities. We have to take our hats off to those
who carried it out,'' read an editorial in the daily
Yedioth Ahronoth. 

At a rally in Jenin, Jihad Izzedine, 35, one of
Hardan's cellmates, told a crowd: ``Iyad is a hero and
a lion. He carried out a heroic attack. We want to
tell (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon that the
story of Iyad hasn't ended.'' 

At his funeral, eight Palestinians carrying Hardan's
body wore white robes, meant to resemble burial
shrouds given to suicide bombers. 

Hardan was in and out of a Palestinian jail in Jenin
in recent years. Despite the breakdown of security
coordination with Israel, the Palestinian Authority
has continued to detain some Islamic militants
suspected of involvement in attacks on Israelis, while
others escaped or were released during Israeli rocket
attacks in October. 

Considered a friend by his wardens, Harden was allowed
to leave jail to go into town or attend classes at the
Al Quds Open University where he studied history. 

His jailers even sent bodyguards with him because they
feared Israel would try to kill him, according to a
military intelligence official at Jenin prison, who
spoke on condition of anonymity. On his walk back from
the university Thursday afternoon, Hardan stopped to
use the public pay phone. 

In response to the killing, the Palestinian Authority
released two other suspected militants jailed with
Hardan. 

At his funeral, Palestinian activists firing guns in
the air promised revenge. They shouted together,
``Islamic Jihad, we want car bombs.'' 

AP-NY-04-06-01 1408EDT


=====
Jeff Pawlowski
Millennium's End: Officially Unofficial
http://www.millenniumsend.com

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