Posted on 03/03/2003 8:30:35 AM PST by deepdoodoo
Accusations fly over who was behind Ain al-Hilweh blast
A large car bomb exploded in Ain al-Hilweh Saturday, killing the alleged head of Al-Qaeda operations in Lebanon and setting off a flurry of speculation over who was behind the attack.
Abu Mohammed Masri died from injuries when an explosives-laden white Mercedes blew up just before 5am in the Sidon-area camp, starting a large fire and injuring two others.
The booby-trapped car was parked between Masri’s food shop and the nearby Al-Nour mosque. All three were taken to the hospital, where Masri, 29, died soon after.
The explosion started a fire, which was quickly put out, sent glass everywhere and severed power lines.
Sources in the camp suggested that Masri, an Egyptian veteran of fighting in Afghanistan, may have been the target of a US operation. Israel had once called Masri, whose real name was Abdel-Sattar Jad, the head of Osama bin Laden’s network in Lebanon.
Masri is believed to have come to Lebanon six years ago. Witnesses said they heard the sound of an Israeli reconnaissance drone above the camp during the night and morning. But moments after the explosion, they said, it could no longer be heard.
Palestinian security officials said the booby-trapped car, whose license plate was fake, was equipped with an electronic triggering device that could be set off by remote control. In answer to a question about the dead man, he said he was a God-fearing man who came to the camp several years ago and set up a foul and hummus shop. A previously unheard of movement calling itself the Young People of the Palestinian Struggle claimed responsibility for the killing. In a statement, the group said that the movement had “liquidated” Masri, whom it called a foreign agent and a traitor to the Palestinian cause.
“We have decided to cut off the head of the snake in a step, which is the first aimed at clearing the camp of suspicious elements,” the statement said. The group accused Masri of undermining the camp’s security.
A counter-statement issued by the camp’s joint security force, Al-Kifah al-Musallah, accused Mossad of conducting the operation.
Another statement was issued by the Palestine Liberation Organization saying the technique used in the attack points to Mossad. Israel denied responsibility for the operation.
Meanwhile, another killing took place in the camp, when a member of the camp’s joint security force was shot dead by Abdullah Shridi on Sunday afternoon. Shridi reportedly shot Nazih Shridi, his second cousin, twice at close range.
I seen shops that were foul and hummus, but I never thought they were set up that way intentionally.
Nah. It was a Mercedes.
This news just breaks my f***ing heart.
>Liquidating both, one by capture and the other by killing, just hours apart would send a strong message to Qaida bosses and soldiers.
>After all multiple targeting is a tactic that Qaida understands.
The asymmetrical warfare bit works boths ways.
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