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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scoobah who wrote (392)	11/17/2001 6:18:13 PM
From: Scoobah	Respond to of 32591

Sunday, November 18, 2001 Kislev 3, 5762 Israel Time: 01:16 (GMT+2) 09:12 16/11/2001 Last update - 11:07 17/11/2001 One Palestinian killed, another injured in manhunt near Ramle By Amos Harel and Amit Ben-Aroya, Ha'aretz Correspondent A Palestinian man was killed Friday morning, another Palestinian sustained light injuries and three others were caught in a police terror squad operation near Moshav Nir Tzvi, west of Ramle. The five Palestinians were probably from the Gaza Strip and had entered Israel without permits. Police said that three of the men were wanted by Israel's security services and may have intended to carry out a terror attack in Israel. The exact details of the investigation were not released for publication, but police said that throughout Thursday night a manhunt had been carried out for three of the five men suspected of being terrorists. A Magen David ambulance team treated the injured Palestinian and took him to Assaf Harofeh Hospital in Tel Aviv. Israel Radio reported Friday that the three Palestinians may have been part of a group of four Palestinians who illegally crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip last Thursday. The Palestinians were taken to the Lachish area by a resident of Moshav Shuva, Herzl Mantin, who was arrested and confessed to his action. Hundreds of police officers from the southern district were placed on alert and launched thorough searches to find the Palestinians, two of whom have a history of hostile terrorist action. Earlier this week, the police crack anti-terror unit captured a suspected master car thief and terrorist in Ramat Hasharon, after pursuing him for over 24 hours. Mohammed Abu Jamousi, 23, a resident of Tul Karm, managed to evade a massive manhunt Tuesday that included hundreds of police officers and other security personnel. Police say Abu Jamousi has been involved in stealing dozens of car from Israel and transferring them to the territories. The Shin Bet security service also suspects he has links to terrorist activities and may have planted a bomb discovered recently in the Sharon area. haaretzdaily.com

To: Scoobah who wrote (392)	11/17/2001 6:18:25 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 32591

Sunday, November 18, 2001 Kislev 3, 5762 Israel Time: 01:17 (GMT+2) Last update - 23:24 17/11/2001 U.S. Congress delegation to ask to meet with Hezbollah By Daniel Sobelman, Ha'aretz Correspondent, and Reuters Four U.S. Congressmen on a tour of the region met Saturday with Syrian President Bashar Assad for talks on the Middle East peace process and ways of improving U.S.-Syrian relations. "There is some opportunity for real progress in improving U.S.-Syrian relations," Representative Brian Kerns (Republican, Indiana) told reporters after the meeting. Assad told the congressional delegation that Syria was prepared to co-operate with the United States' campaign against terrorism within practical parameters, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported. The delegation's leader, Darrell Issa (Republican, California) told reporters that for the United States to remove Hezbollah from its list of terrorist organizations, the Lebanese militant group must renounce terrorism and confine itself to its humanitarian and parliamentary activities. Hezbollah, which receives Syrian support, continues to attack IDF troops over a tiny parcel of disputed land on Lebanon's southern border. However, it also operates as a political party, with nine members in parliament, and provides social services to low-income people. Issa, who serves on the House Committee on International Relations, is the grandson of Lebanese immigrants to the United States. The delegation arrived in Syria on Saturday and was expected to leave for Beirut on Sunday for talks with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. The other congressmen on the trip are Nick Rahall (Democrat, West Virginia) and John Cooksey (Republican, Louisiana). The Arabic daily Al Mustakabal - owned by Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri - reported Friday that the congressmen have asked to meet with representatives of the militant Lebanese-based Hezbollah organization. The report followed an announcement Friday by Hezbollah, in which the group stated that it had rejected a secret U.S. offer to "forgive" alleged involvement in attacks on Westerners in exchange for ending the hostilities with Israel. In an interview in the Kuwaiti Al-Rai Al-Am daily, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said the offer followed suicide attacks on U.S. targets that killed thousands of people on September 11 and sparked Washington's war against terrorism. "The United States thought we'd be stricken with fear," he said. "They came to us thinking there was a chance we'd give after September 11 what we'd refused before." He said unnamed intermediaries had offered to "forgive Hezbollah its past," including the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 people and has helped make Hezbollah a fixture on U.S. lists of "terrorist" organizations. In return, Hezbollah would distinguish between Islam and "terrorism," withdraw from the Arab-Israeli conflict, cut ties with Syria and radical Palestinian groups fighting Israel, and turn over information Washington assumed it had about militant Islamist groups, Nasrallah said. "Of course we rejected all these offers because we believe it's a political bomb aimed at finishing off Hezbollah," he said, adding that Washington's recent decision to ask Lebanon to freeze Hezbollah's assets was a response to being snubbed. Washington also suspects Hezbollah, whose main backers are Iran and Syria, of kidnapping Westerners during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. The United States intervened in the conflict to back a government of pro-Israeli Lebanese Christian militiamen. Lebanon has condemned the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, but says it will not cooperate with U.S. financial sanctions against Hezbollah, which was primarily responsible for ending Israel's 22-year-long military presence in south Lebanon last year. Hezbollah has vowed to drive Israeli troops from Shebaa Farms, a disputed patch of land near the Lebanese border and the Golan Heights, and kidnapped three Israeli soldiers there in a raid last year. The three soldiers - Adi Avitan, Benny Avraham and Omar Souad - were abducted in October 2000 on the Israel-Lebanon border by Lebanese-based Hezbollah guerillas believed to be disguised as UN troops. Israel has recently declared the three to be fallen in action. Hezbollah also kidnapped Israeli businessman Elhanan Tanenbaum. The Shi'ite Muslim organization claims the Israeli businessman is a Mossad agent. Nasrallah said Hezbollah had also rejected a U.S. offer after the Israeli withdrawal from the south that entailed quitting its campaign in Shaaba Farms in exchange for political recognition and the release of Arab prisoners in Israel. The United Nations has certified Israel's pullout from Lebanon as complete, and does not recognize claims by Beirut, Damascus and Hezbollah that Shebaa Farms is Lebanese territory.