PA officials arrest three in connection with Gaza bombing

Palestinian police arrested three members of the militant Popular Resistance Committees early Thursday in connection with the roadside bombing in the Gaza Strip the day before that killed three Americans, Palestinian Authority security officials said.

A massive remote-controlled bomb demolished an armor-plated jeep in the convoy carrying U.S. diplomatic personnel through the northern Gaza Strip, including a cultural envoy from the U.S. embassy, on their way to interview potential Palestinian students who were candidates for an academic

The group consists largely of former Palestinian security officials and disgruntled members of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, the security officials said.

The three were arrested in the Jabalya refugee camp, near the site of the attack. One of the detainees was identified as Ahmed Saker, 25.

Two more members of the group were being sought, the sources said. The group denied any role in the U.S. convoy bombing.

"Yesterday, a few hours after the bombing... Palestinian security forces detained three people as part of the investigation conducted by the Palestinian Authority into the incident," a security official told Reuters in Gaza.

A leader of the Popular Resistance Committees confirmed the arrested men were members, but said: "We made clear to the Palestinian Authority we had nothing to do with the bombing. We were stunned by the unjustified arrests."

Palestinian witnesses said that when Palestinian police came to Block 8 of Jabalya to make arrests, a gun fight erupted. There were no reports of injuries.

Sources in Israel and in the PA had speculated whether the Fatah splinter group was behind the attack.

PA security officials: We warned U.S. Senior PA security officials claimed Wednesday that they had repeatedly warned U.S. officials in the past months to change travel routines in the territories, in order to avoid such an attack.

The PA security officials said they warned Americans that routine movements in GMC vehicles that have diplomatic license plates and conspicuous bodyguards could be dangerous. Members of militant Palestinian opposition groups could be collecting information about routine movements of the U.S. vehicles and personnel, the PA officials cautioned.

The officials said that they formulated such warnings in very specific terms and relayed them on a number of occasions, as in the case of a meeting held three months ago with CIA personnel in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Meanwhile, a team of FBI officials is expected to arrive in Israel on Thursday to carry out an investigation into the attack.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft described the delegation as a "fly-away team" consisting of investigators and forensic experts. FBI officials said it would be a cooperative probe involving Israel's police force.

The FBI agents do not intend to go into Gaza immediately. Instead, they will rely on Israel to collect and preserve evidence, with the FBI doing the detailed examinations of what is found, the officials said.

It was established Wednesday that American personnel who coordinate the movements of U.S. officials in the territories communicate travel plans in advance to PA security officials, sending the detailed information by fax or telephone. Such reports spell out the names of persons who are taking part in work trips in the territories, the times when U.S. vehicles are to be moving through various areas, and the routes to be taken by the cars.

In view of this practice of relaying advance information, some analysts speculated Wednesday that the terrorists who perpetrated the attack had advance knowledge of the U.S. convoy's intention to cross into the village of Beit Hanun.

At least a portion of the information attained by the terrorists, the analysts hypothesized, came from official PA sources.

The U.S. named the three victims of the first deadly attack on American officials since the start of the intifada as John Branchizio, 37, from Texas; Mark Parson, 31, from New York; and John Martin Linde, 30, from Missouri. The three were on contract to the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv through the defense contracting company Dyncorp, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Bush: Terror compromises Palestinian statehood U.S. President George W. Bush blamed Palestinian authorities Wednesday for the deaths, saying their failure to create security forces to combat terrorism "continues to cost lives."

"Palestinian authorities should have acted long ago to fight terror in all its forms," said the president in a written statement. "There must be an empowered prime minister who controls all Palestinian forces - reforms that continue to be blocked by Yasser Arafat."

"The failure to undertake these reforms and dismantle the terrorist organizations constitutes the greatest obstacle to achieving the Palestinian people's dream of statehood," Bush said.

The European Union also took the Palestinians to task, with the body's foreign policy chief Javier Solana telling Arafat that "condemnations and excuses will not do."

Arafat vowed to track down those responsible for the attack, which he called a "dirty and shameful" act.

Both Islamic Jihad and Hamas denied responsibility for the attack, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident. Three months ago, a roadside bomb was detonated beside an American convoy traveling in the same area, but without injury.

The blast went off around 10:15 A.M. Wednesday as the convoy drove near a gas station on the outskirts of the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, along the main north-south road.

Witnesses at the scene said a silver Cherokee jeep used by American diplomats was completely destroyed by the blast. Parts of the vehicle were strewn in a 30-meter radius around a crater created by the explosion.

The explosion tore the car in half and left the wreckage twisted with the tires up in the air. An AP reporter saw a gray wire with an on-off switch leading from the scene of the attack to a small concrete room at the side of the road.

Soon after the blast, the IDF sent tanks and armored vehicles under cover of a helicopter gunship into the areas of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lehiya to aid the Americans in evacuating the wounded man and the bodies of the victims.

An IDF rescue helicopter evacuated the wounded man to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva.

Later in the day, American security officials investigating the bomb attack left the scene abruptly after Palestinian youths threw stones and rocks at them. The investigators were taking pictures of the bloodied, twisted remains of the van when some six children threw stones and rocks at them, while several hundred Palestinians looked on.

Palestinian police fired in the air to chase away the stone throwers, and U.S. officials rushed back their cars and sped off. Palestinian police beat some people in the crowd, while pushing the spectators back.

The IDF said the targeted jeep was the middle vehicle of the convoy, which carried security men and CIA personnel. A Palestinian security van had preceded the convoy's three armor-plated vehicles.

But the CIA spokesman in Washington, Bill Harlow, refuted the reports that CIA officials were in the convoy, saying that no members of the organization were involved.

The American embassy in Tel Aviv said that contrary to initial reports, U.S. special Middle East envoy John Wolf was not in the convoy. Wolf is responsible for monitoring compliance with the road map peace plan.

Palestinian taxi driver Mohammed Radwan said he was at a nearby gas station when the blast went off.

"I was about to fill up my car with gas when I saw the American convoy passing," Radwan said. "There was a Palestinian police car in front and then three big cars. When the third one passed, an explosion went off."

"The first two cars drove quickly and stopped far form the explosion. Palestinian security people jumped out of the car and rushed to the car that had blown up. When I tried to approach them, they shouted at me to leave. I saw two people covered with blood lying next to the car."

Top: Palestinians watching the recovery of the U.S. jeep hit in Wednesday's attack in Gaza. Bottom: A PA security official examining the scene of the attack. (AP)

In recent years, we have seen with those winning public tenders that the state is asked to improve the conditions, and if not, then the country will be left without water/electricity/highway.

This was just "Three Arrested"

Did they let the two real perps go?

The fact that these Americans lost their lives while on a mission to provide Fulbright scholarships to Palestinians is an irony that should be lost on no one. That the United States supports Palestinians in any matter or form is absurd. Our dollars have fed them for half a century; we have pumped in millions to the PA which has gone into private bank accounts controlled by Yasser Arafat. The Agency for International Development has funded private organizations that have sunk money down the Palestinian rathole.

It is time to stop the dualism in our Israel-Palestine policy and support efforts to crush, yea, even to eliminate the so-called Palestinian state once and for all.

I have to admit the first thing that crossed my mind was , What the hell are we doing offering Fullbright scholarships to these people in the first place? Isnt Fullbright the clown that was Bubba's Rabbi? Didnt Fullbright get Bubba his Rhodes scholarship? Isnt there an American kid out there somewhere who deserves a scholarship?

re: "on their way to interview potential Palestinian students who were candidates for an academic Fulbright scholarship."

Well, I guess no scholarships will be handed out today!

But the Israelis did it. I know so because the Palestinians said it on al-Jazeera. It was a Mossad operation.

I understand the Palestinians are also selling bridges in Brooklyn and opera houses in Sydney.

The group consists largely of former Palestinian security officials and disgruntled members of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, the security officials said.

Just like Arafat, he needs some bodies to toss in Jail for the cameras, so he arrests his opposition.

8 posted on 10/16/2003 10:30:11 AM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)

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