California: Israel calls it 'an act of terrorism' - to kill Peres granddaughter?

InvestigativeJournal.com ^ | 7/5/02 12:30:00 PM | David M. Bresnahan

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Israel calls it 'an act of terrorism'

Was LAX gunman trying to kill Peres granddaughter?

By

Published 7/5/02 12:30:00 PM

Hesham Mohamed Hadayet

LOS ANGELES -- Israel calls the shooting at Los Angeles International Airport a terrorist event but U.S. investigators say they are unsure.

Egypitan limousine driver Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, 41, began shooting people in front of the El Al airline ticket counter yesterday. A security guard shot and killed Hadayet. A drivers licence found by police listed his birthday as July 4, 1961, as well as a second birthdate.

Los Angeles Police and the F.B.I. are searching for evidence to determine whether the act was terrorist connected, or just an act of violence. Israeli officials say the daughter of Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was in the airport at the time. They believe the gunman was attempting to locate her when he was frustrated by an El Al ticket agent. U.S. officials would not comment on the claim.

El Al ticket agent Victoria Hen, 25, and Yaakov Aminov, 46, a jeweler and father of eight, were shot and killed before an El Al guards shot Hadayet. Two security guards and a woman were wounded, and another woman suffered heart problems. Aminov was in the airport to drop off a friend for a flight.

F.B.I. spokesman Matt McLaughlin told reporters that terrorism is not being ruled out, "but there's nothing to indicate terrorism at this point."

Hadayet, who had a California gun permit, was carrying a Glock 45-caliber semiautomatic handgun along with an unidentified 9 mm handgun, as well as a 6-inch knife. In addition he had extra magazines with more ammunition for both guns -- indicating the attack was thought out and planned in advance.

Dr. David Parkus, a trauma surgeon from Texas was nearby when the shooting began, according to an Associated Press report.

He said he saw one security guard wrestling with Hadayet, then a second guard shot him. Parkus said one guard had injuries to his head and was cut by a knife on the right arm. The second guard was cut on the lower back and the left thigh, and also had a gunshot wound to the right thigh.

Parkus said he held the gunman as he died, then performed CPR on two victims, according to AP.

The international terminal was evacuated after the shooting, and 35 flights were delayed affecting 10,500 passengers, according to airport officials.

A bomb squad was called in when Hadayet's car was found in the parking garage, but nothing was found.

In an announcement just day before the incident, plans were revealed that LAX would undergo a major redesign that would require all incoming passengers to go through security screening at a remote site before taking trains to the terminals. The changes will cost $9.6 billion to install and implement.

LAX was the intended target of terrorist Ahmed Ressam who was captured on Dec. 14, 1999 trying to cross from Canada into the U.S. with a car full of explosives.

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[swarthyguy]

Through the imam at the local mosque?

[jpl]

My guess is that this guy was a very low-level sleeper agent who got tired of waiting and demanded to be given a mission of some sort.

[PoisedWoman]

Actually, I and some other freepers picked up on the fact that Peres's granddaughter was at the airport and might have been Hayadat's real target. How would he have known she was there? Accomplises, therefore a plot, therefore definitely terrorism. Perhaps other Arabic "limo services" keep track of comings and goings of prominent Israelis.

[Nachum]

I did not read it here. It was mentioned in the Los Angeles Times original story that the grand daughter was at the airport. It was dismissed as a possible motive by the authorities in the article.

[Robert357]

Regardless of citizenship, someone should have a hearing about the agency that issued the gun permits to this guy. He appears to have been in some kind of sleeper terrorist cell and waited for instructions on a target of opportunity such as the granddaughter of Peres. It is just too convienent that his family was back in Egypt, when this happened.

As the NRA says, lets sensible enforce the existing laws before we write new ones.

Hot enought for you? Got Power?

[aristeides]

Peres's daughter or granddaughter? Note that this article says daughter, something I have not seen claimed before. Probably a slip.

[Shermy]

She was at the airport? So what? He clearly did not act like an assassin, but a terrorist shooting wildly. And how would he know she's there? Why didn't he shoot her?

Her being at the airport is just an interesting tidbit to fuel the tin-foil crowd.

[archy]

Sure is an interesting angle to this attack. I hadn't heard she was in town until this. Given that nobody here had heard about her being in town, I wonder how a lowly Egyptian cabbie would know?

This report described an investigation into possible links to and meetings with between Hadayet and the founder of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in 1995 and 1998. It's at least possible that Hadayet was an agent or operative of the Islamic Jihad group- the timing of his original entry to the USA certainly raises an eyebrow toward that possibility. Additional background on Ayman al-Zawahri *here*.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

It is quite comfortable at the beach, Marine layer still over us!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The headline said granddaughter.

[backhoe]

Bresnahan was a state-level representative ( Senator? ) for a while, and wrote "Cover-Up!"-- a book I highly recommend reading *if* you can find it. Explains in exact detail how the clintons & their buddies milked the various development "Authorities" in Arkansas for millions of bucks to jump-start their rise to power years ago.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the info.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

The wife is supposedly in Egypt right now. Is the INS letting her back in?

[snippy_about_it]

Here is the California firearms website:

http://caag.state.ca.us/firearms/

[monkeyshine]

First I heard of her being at the airport. That's probably why Peres was one of the first Israelis to speak out about it. What I wanna know is how did this slimeball know she was there?

[monkeyshine]

Yeah what's up with that gun permit?!?! Do they mean a CCW permit? Maybe because he was in Irvine, I know that Sheriff Corona (?) of Irvine is more lenient with issuing permits than Sheriff Baca or Chief Parks in Los Angeles. I think immigrants with a green card can apply for them.

We need to know more about this. It is patently rediculous if a non-citizens in one county (a relatively safe part of the state) can get a CCW permit while native born Americans in another part of the state can't. Between this terrorist and Robert Blake, I've had enough.

I'm going on the offensive. I'll start by writing a letter to Jim March.

[MinuteGal]

I'd like to know if Peres' granddaughter was accompanied by Israeli or USSS bodyguards or was she traveling incognito and unguarded. Seems to me she would be high-risk as a target for death or kidnapping/hostage taking.

If she had protection, what did any bodyguards do doing the attack? If she didn't, what did SHE do during the attack?

Just trying to put all bits and pieces together. Was her presence there at LAX known to the US or not?

I could go on.

Leni

[monkeyshine]

She probably does have special protection making it that much harder for guys like Hedayat to find her in an airport terminal. Like maybe a special security or "first class" lounge or something.

[Nachum]

Are you kiddng? He was probably the first person that El Al security called- or maybe the grand daughter called home to say she was all right.