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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (1390)	5/23/2001 6:46:29 PM
From: George Papadopoulos	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

>The best way of make amends for the sins of our ancestors is to never repeat them again. I like this statement

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (1390)	5/23/2001 9:07:25 PM
From: average joe	Respond to of 23908

Amen - it can't go on forever, and people who want it to usually have profit in mind.

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (1390)	5/24/2001 11:40:52 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

GSS: PA deeply involved in mortar attacks By Arieh O'Sullivan jpost.com JERUSALEM (May 24) - The Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip is deeply involved in the firing of mortars, and the General Security Service has uncovered an extensive network for manufacturing mortar rounds and hand grenades. The GSS has revealed that the man behind the mortar production is PA Police chief Ghazi Jabali. He also paid the craftsmen for manufacturing thousands of shells, said a senior security source. On Sunday, the GSS arrested a Palestinian who had a foundry in Gaza and produced dozens of mortar shells for the PA's security forces. The foundry was destroyed by the IAF after the arrest. The man was identified as Saadi Ibrahim Ashi, 41, and he told his interrogators that he was approached in December to start manufacturing mortar shells. The picture emerging from his interrogation is of a well-oiled network to produce thousands of shells of various calibers. According to the GSS, Ashi had worked at an iron-casting factory in the Erez industrial zone from 1983 until 1997. After leaving, he took his compensation, built a house and foundry in near the Jabalya refugee camp. He said that he was recruited by Abed Sabawi, a senior officer in the Palestinian Police. Sabawi was later killed in a mysterious explosion in his headquarters. Security sources said he was apparently handling one of the homemade bombs. Working through a mediator, Rizak Dafda, Ashi asked for and received immunity from the Palestinian Police and a work permit showing his work was legal. He ended up casting the bodies of dozens of 60 mm. and 90 mm. mortar shells and dozens of hand grenades. These were transferred through the Dafda family to the Palestinian Police headquarters in Gaza City, where craftsmen placed fins on them and armed them with explosives, the senior security source said. "This shows a direct and deep involvement of the Palestinian security apparatus in manufacturing mortars," he said. "We also have evidence that the firing of mortars is done in coordination with the PA. The image that the PA is trying to push is that there are five or six renegade mortar squads, who are difficult to catch, running about the orchards. But it turns out that this is not the picture at all." The mortar captured two weeks ago in the Gaza Strip belonged to a Hamas cell. Later, Ashi said, he was approached by the Preventive Security Service, headed by Muhammad Dahlan, and asked to produce 120 mm. aluminum mortar shells. This indicated an attempt by the Palestinian security forces to arm themselves with a longer-range capability since the aluminum shells are larger and lighter. "If the Preventive Security Service turns to Ashi and asks for 120 mm. mortar shells, it shows that it also has the same mortar assembly infrastructure as Jabali," the source said. The GSS believes that there are more like Ashi who are manufacturing mortar shells. They also believe that the Palestinians are producing rifle grenades. The source said that the PA has put together a nascent military industry, concentrated in Gaza City and Khan Yunis. The finished weapons, however, are spread throughout the Gaza Strip to protect them from an Israeli attack, he said. "We see the Palestinian military industries becoming more and more sophisticated," he said. According to the source, the Palestinians obtained explosives used to arm the mortar shells and hand grenades from old land mines which were dug up in the Gaza Strip and from explosives made from legally imported chemicals. The GSS believes that a number of mortars have made their way to the West Bank and it is only a matter of time until they are used. The source said the GSS is unaware of any weapons production infrastructure in the West Bank. The GSS believes there are about 10 mortars in operation in the Gaza Strip, but they said more are probably stored in warehouses. Most of 180 mortar shells fired were locally produced. There is at least one known case of firing a 90 mm. mortar. Eight Israelis have been wounded since the mortar shellings began in January, including a baby who was seriously injured in an April 3 attack on the settlement of Atzmona. The GSS said there is a vast network smuggling weapons and ammunition into the territories, mainly the Gaza Strip. The main sources are Israeli criminal elements and smuggling from Egypt, by sea, and in the vehicles of Palestinian VIPs. "The trunks of their cars are sometimes so heavy they are scrapping the street," said the security source