Shin Bet arrests PA official for smuggling weapons into Gaza
By Haaretz Service
The Shin Bet security service released Thursday
that it had arrested Palestinian Authority
official Akram Tubasi in September on suspicion of
buying weapons in Egypt and smuggling them into
the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported.
Defense sources also implicated
former PA security affairs
minister Mohammed Dahlan in the
weapons-smuggling, Army Radio
reported.
Tubasi, a 31-year-old Rafah
resident who served in the
Palestinian coast guard, told
his questioners that he used
tunnels in Rafah to smuggle the weapons to
Gaza, security officials were quoted as
saying.
The IDF has been conducting an operation in
Rafah to expose arms-smuggling tunnels such as
the ones Tubasi allegedly used. Three smuggling
tunnels have been unearthed in the operation,
in which nine Palestinians were killed and some
1,400 Palestinians were left homeless after the
IDF destroyed about 60 buildings.
The Shin Bet said Tubasi was assisted by three
youths who stayed in Egypt and would pass
through the tunnel into the Gaza Strip with
thousands of rounds of Kalashnikov ammunition
that was purchased in Egypt.
One of Tubasi's clients was Nabil Tamus, a top
ranking member of the Palestinian security
forces in the Gaza Strip, the Shin Bet said.
Tubasi allegedly delivered two missiles, 3,000
rounds of ammunition and a Kalashnikov rifle to
Tamus's office.
Tamus then told Tubasi that he intended to check
with Dahlan whether he is interested in more
missiles, defense sources told Army Radio.
In addition, the Shin Bet suspects Tubasi of
supplying weapons to Fuad Shubaki, PA Chairman
Yasser Arafat's former financial adviser,
Israel Radio reported.
Tubasi is suspected of providing Shubaki with
six missiles about two years ago. Israel says
Shubaki played a central role in trying to
smuggle weapons - including Katyusha rockets,
missiles, mines, rifles and ammunition - aboard
the Karine A ship, which the navy seized in
January 2002 on its way to the Suez Canal. |
