Posted on 07/08/2002 2:19:59 AM PDT by kattracks
The gunman who killed two Israelis during his Independence Day rampage at Los Angeles International Airport may have ties to Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man, an Arabic-language newspaper reported yesterday.
Although FBI officials have yet to label Egyptian-born gunman Hesham Mohamed Hadayet's murderous attack an act of terrorism, the London-based newspaper Al Hayat reported yesterday that Hadayet may have met twice — in 1995 and 1998 — with Ayman al-Zawahiri, a key Bin Laden strategist.
Al-Zawahiri, who's on the U.S. most-wanted list and is believed to be alive, visited California in 1998, when he was leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
Two Rampage Victims
Hadayet, 41, was shot and killed by an El Al security guard after Hadayet opened fire on a group of people waiting at the ticket counter of the Israeli airline.
His rampage killed Yaakov Aminov, 46, and El Al employee Victoria Hen, 25.
The FBI says Hadayet was not on any of its watch lists and still says the crime may have been simply a madman's solitary act. Israeli officials and the victims' friends have not hesitated to condemn the killings of Aminov and Hen as terrorist murders.
"He died because he was Jewish," said Eli Gabay, 20, an Orthodox Jew from North Hollywood, Calif.
Hadayet's neighbors have told reporters he frequently expressed anti-Israeli views.
"The gunman skipped dozens of other foreign airline counters to attack El Al; our experience tells us it is terrorism," Yuval Rotem, the Israeli consul general in Los Angeles, told the Jerusalem Post.
Community Hit Hard
More than 1,500 mourners gathered yesterday at two Los Angeles synagogues for the funerals of the two victims.
Hen, a ticket agent, was shot as she stood behind the El Al customer counter, and Aminov, a diamond importer and father of eight, had accompanied a friend to the airport.
Hen's boyfriend, Yaron Cohen, who clutched a white rose throughout the 30-minute graveside ceremony, had planned to propose marriage last Friday, family spokesman Joe Knoller said.
Hen began working at the El Al ticket counter only a month ago.
Aminov, eulogized as a man devoted to his family, his community and his religion, emigrated from Israel 14 years ago.
Family members said they begged Aminov not to go to the airport on a day when Americans were braced for possible attacks on the first Independence Day since Sept. 11.
With News Wire Services
London-based newspaper Al Hayat reported yesterday that Hadayet may have met twice — in 1995 and 1998 — with Ayman al-Zawahiri, a key Bin Laden strategist.
This would seem to lend credence to what DEBKA has reported here:Hadayat Belonged to Egyptian Jihad, al Qaeda s Operational Arm (and our media knows nothing of this)
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CNN Programs - People in the News
... In 1995, using an alias, al-Zawahiri even visited California ... Al-Zawahiri and Osama
bin Laden were indicted for ... embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998 ...
www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/people/ shows/zawahiri/profile.html - 43k - Cached - Similar pages
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