Hasan Yousef Arrested by Israelis

[Mensch]

Just breaking on Fox news

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Yeah!!

[Iwentsouth]

He hid in Israel?

[illbenice]

His name sounds familiar. Can you please tell me what he did? I think it was in connection with the Twin Tower bombing years ago.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Military tribunal, anyone?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

US intelligence found that he was a major planner in the Sept. 11th atrocities and is a real heavy hitter in al-Qaeda.

[Dog]

Who is this guy...???

[Poohbah]

Oh, man...if this is the same guy, he is serioused f*cked either way.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy :o)

[AlGone2001]

He was the prime suspect in the 1993 WTC bombing.

[Dog]

Fill me in please....who is this guy??

[Iwentsouth]

I remember him being involved in first WTC bombing and Project Bojinka.

nothing on fox right now. He is not on FBI website?

[Wild Irish Rogue]

I think he was WTC #1, also. But, for some reason I thought he was either dead or already in jail somewhere, with the Sheik.

[SamAdams76]

RAMALLAH, West Bank- Israeli soldiers arrested the Islamic militant group Hamas' top political leader in the West Bank on Saturday in a raid on his Ramallah hide-out.

Blindfolded and clutching a bottle of water, Hasan Yousef was taken out of the house in the center of the West Bank city into an Israeli military vehicle. The capture was filmed by Associated Press Television News.

Another blindfolded man was led out with Yousef, but his identity was not known. Israeli soldiers conducted a wider sweep in downtown Ramallah on Saturday, pulling out men and leading them away blindfolded. It was not known how many Palestinians were arrested.

Yousef heads the political wing of Hamas in the West Bank, and the Israeli army said it had been hunting for him for some time. Military sources said a substantial amount of money was found in Yousef's hide-out, but they gave no exact figure.

"Israel is playing with fire and the continuation of arrests, assassinations and aggression against our people and against our leaders will not stop the resistance," said Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader in Gaza, upon hearing the news of Yousef's arrest.

"We warn the occupation against any attempt on the life of Sheik Yousef and all the others arrested," he said.

Hamas has claimed responsibility for scores of suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Israelis in the near two-year conflict.

The arrest came at the start of a new Palestinian school year Saturday, with a million children trying to get to their classrooms amid heavy Israeli restrictions hampering the movement of goods and people.

Israel lifted its curfew for part of the day in several main West Bank towns, but the curfew remained in place in the town of Jenin and the Israeli-controlled section of Hebron, keeping students at home.

In other parts of the West Bank, Palestinian schoolchildren heading for school lined up outside checkpoints, opening their backpacks for Israeli soldiers to check.

Dressed in uniforms, some students avoided roadblocks by traveling on dirt roads or mountain paths to reach their schools, said Education Minister Naim Abu Hommos. Teachers, too, braved long lines.

"Moving 45,000 teachers to their schools is not easy, they have to walk through the mountains and valleys to reach their schools, and we are determined to keep our schools open," he said.

More than one million students were expected to begin their studies, the Palestinian Ministry of Education said in a statement.

"Our experience from the last school year was not encouraging at all," said the ministry, adding that 216 students were killed, 2,514 injured and 164 arrested during Israel's crackdown.

Palestinian officials urged Israel to allow students to move freely and to lift curfews and roadblocks.

"We need the curfew to be lifted all day or it will be impossible to go ahead with the regular education process," said Jouman Qarman, head of the Palestinian education office in Nablus.

After a spate of suicide bombings in June, Israel sealed off much of the Palestinian territories and imposed stiff curfews. Many Palestinians have been confined to their homes for days at a time. The result has been economic devastation, with poverty and unemployment rates rising dramatically.

Israel says its measures are necessary to keep out suicide bombers.

Also Saturday, Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, who heads the Palestinian security forces, met U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield as part of talks aimed at reducing tensions.

Satterfield told reporters afterward that he was meeting both sides to discuss "how best to move forward in a manner that restores comprehensive, lasting and sustained calm to Israelis and Palestinians and how best to advance the political vision outlined by President Bush in June."

In the West Bank town of Tulkarem late Friday, an 18-year-old Palestinian woman was killed by militants who accused her of planting the bomb which killed a local militant leader, Raed Karmi, on Jan. 13. The militants were from the Al Aqsa Brigades, affiliated to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

Al Aqsa members told The Associated Press that the woman, Rajaa Ibrahim, was given the bomb by Israeli intelligence.

The woman's mother, Yusriya Ibrahim, said she knew nothing about her daughter's alleged involvement in Karmi's death.

"I'm afraid for myself and my children," she said.

[Friedrich Hayek]

They arrested Cat Stevens!?! The bastards!

[Poohbah]

Supposedly a heavy hitter with Al-Qaeda, and the guy who actually planned September 11th.

This guy's brain is going to be tapioca pudding by the time the interrogators get done shooting him up with happy juice (aka "gravy for the brain" if you've ever seen Conspiracy Theory).

[A CA Guy]

Tells you they were planning turmoil from within Israel - or could have been the head of the serpant there for some time.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Ramsay Yousef was the mastermind of the 1993 WTC bombing and later played a large role in planning the Sept. 11th atrocities. He is a real senior guy in al-Qaeda.

[Straight Vermonter]

You are right he has been in jail for years.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Here is some good background info on Ramsay Yousef: THE WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMB - Who Is Ramzi Yousef? And Why It Matters .

[Ipberg]

Bump for another victory in the War On Terror.