Posted on 04/14/2002 4:33:25 AM PDT by wretchard
Taking into account the latest developments in the inquiry it was probably an attack |
Otto Schily
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He said the explosion appeared to be a terrorist attack which was aimed at the synagogue not at the coach carrying a party of German tourists which took much of the force of the explosion.
Tunisian authorities had earlier said the blast was an accident, but Mr Schily insisted there was no division between the two governments.
German federal police officials have been sent to Tunisia to assist in the investigation of Thursday's explosion at La Ghriba Jewish shrine.
Mr Schily said: "The latest information and indications we have been getting from both inside the country and outside have pointed increasingly towards an attack."
As well as the eight Germans, the blast killed a Frenchman, a Tunisian tour guide and three other Tunisians.
Another 30 people, mostly Germans, were seriously hurt in the explosion.
On Saturday, Jewish men and teenagers held a solemn sabbath service amid the blackened interior of their historic synagogue.
The Jews of Djerba
Ghriba, whose foundations are said to date from 586 BC, is one of Africa's oldest synagogues and is still functioning.
Work of wonder
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La Ghriba means 'the one who works wonders'
There are more than 1,000 Jews on Djerba
Ancestors believed to have arrived more than 2,000 years ago
Said to have been founded after the Jewish Exodus of 556 BC
Place of pilgrimage for Sephardic Jews, second only to Jerusalem's Western Wall
Houses unique collection of Torahs
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It attracts several thousand visitors for an annual spring festival.
The island of Djerba, off Tunisia's southeast coast, is a popular holiday destination.
It is also home to around 1,000 of Tunisia's 3,000 Jews.
Many Jews left mainland Tunisia for Israel following the creation of the Jewish state in 1948, and more when the synagogue in the capital Tunis was burned down during the 1967 Middle East conflict.
Jerusalam, Djerba, Bethlehem. Going, going, gone.
Maybe it's because the explosion didn't achieve what they actually intended i.e. destroy the synagogue and kill the Jews therein but instead the blast killed several German tourists and some Tunisians. Hence "accident" (the terrorist botched it).
But if you ask me that's of course poppycock and the whole thing wasn't an accident whether they achieved what they wanted or not.
I guess they figure that people who believe that Arafat's goal is the West Bank and Gaza will believe anything.
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