Suspect of smuggling weapons 'commissioned by PA' arrested

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 16 October 2003 | JPOST.COM STAFF

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Oct. 16, 2003
Suspect of smuggling weapons 'commissioned by PA' arrested
By JPOST.COM STAFF

On Thursday, the Shin Bet released for publication its arrest of a PA security official suspected of smuggling ammunition from Egypt to Gaza Strip, allegedly for such high ranking officials as former PA security minister Muhammad Dahlan.

The man, Akhram Tubassi, a member of the Palestinian Coast Guard, was detained by the Shin Bet on October 7th. He confessed to purchasing weapons in Egypt, commissioned by senior officials of the PA security system. The connection to Dahlan is still under investigation.

To smuggle the weapons, Tubassi used tunnels (those same smuggling tunnels the IDF has been trying to eliminate in its recent Operation Root Canal) and three "errand boys", who went back and forth carrying, among others, guns, missiles and thousands of bullets.

According to the allegations, the weapons were delivered to senior security official Nabil Tamus. Tubassi testified Tamus asked him to wait while he checks with Dahlan before "placing an order" for missiles. Tubassi was arrested before Tamus returned with an answer.

Tubassi also testified to his involvement in smuggling six missiles in January 2001, commissioned by Fuad Shubaki, the man who financed the attempted smuggling of the Karine A arms vessel into the Gaza Strip. He was further involved in the preparation of anti-tank missiles.

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Wasn't Dahlan supposed to be a great moderate the U.S. and Israel could deal with? Hmmmm... Oh, and Egypt is a peaceful and moderate nation too.

[Catspaw]

Wasn't Dahlan supposed to be a great moderate the U.S. and Israel could deal with?

Why, yes he is. Just ask Colin Powell.

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[zacyak]

A simple way of solving this would be to hold Egypt responsible for allowing this smuggling to continue across their border or else cut off their aid. (Something I would like to do anyway) It's ridiculous to continue giving them $2 billion a year and not demand cooperation from them in stopping this. We continue to throw around enormous sums of money in that region and seem to get very little in return for it.