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

To: Thomas M. who wrote (19378)	2/28/2003 3:51:59 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Respond to of 23908

Israel's blackmail to Belgium: "Behave or else... we'll wreck your diamond biz..." Diamond theft haul worth $100m Friday, February 28, 2003 Posted: 12:42 AM EST (0542 GMT) BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Authorities have put a price tag of $100 million on the jewels, gold and securities stolen this month in what is widely considered to be the theft of the century in Antwerp, the world's diamond-cutting capital. Police are still looking for the goods taken from 123 of the 160 high-security vaults at Antwerp's Diamond Center and the burglars who actually broke into the building February 16. Meanwhile, a court Thursday ordered the continued detention of four suspects, two Italian men, one Italian woman and a Dutch woman, who were arrested over the weekend. The four had rented office space in 2000 in the building where the vaults are located. Investigators believe one of the Italian men was the mastermind and the others were his accomplices. Police did not give information beyond their gender and nationalities. Even though the full extent of the theft is not yet clear, police have already called it the biggest theft in the history of the diamond district. A decade ago, when only five vaults were robbed in the cellar, the theft was estimated at $4.55 million. Antwerp's judicial director, Eric Sack said investigators believe thieves had spent two years planning the robbery and called it "a piece of genius in its simplicity, not in the least because the security system was so thoroughly analyzed." The Diamond Center stands in the heart of the high-surveillance diamond district where police and dozens of cameras work around the clock. Thieves learned how to circumvent the alarm system and copied the master keys, Sack said. They taped over cameras and are believed to have put old videotapes in the surveillance system to buy time, Sack said. Still they left behind many goods in their haste. "The floor was strewn with safety boxes, gold, money, securities, cut and rough diamonds, jewels," Sack said. cnn.com

To: Thomas M. who wrote (19378)	2/28/2003 6:18:53 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

Re: And there is no telling how many of these "anti-Semitic" incidents were perpetrated by Betar/Mossad/etc. If anything, the French Jewry put its (smear) campaign of Betar provocations on the back burner... After all, if rabbi Farhi had REALLY been assaulted by an Arab freak, he'd be interred in an Israeli graveyard by now.... () Friday, February 28, 2003 Adar1 26, 5763* Uneasy calm on the French front After two years of endless attacks, French Jewry is experiencing a somewhat quieter interlude. But some fear that a war with Iraq could trigger a renewed wave of anti-Semitism By Daniel Ben Simon PARIS - Gabriel Farhi came to the meeting accompanied by two bodyguards. The police car that brought him parked in front of the hotel. Since the affair that stirred up a storm in France began, his life has changed beyond all recognition. Everywhere he goes he is accompanied by bodyguards, his children are guarded on their way to school, his house is secured and the street where he lives is guarded all hours of the day. From an unknown rabbi, he has become a guarded personage. Thus shall be done to the man who has embarrassed an entire country. The affair, which began at the beginning of last month, has still not left the public agenda. At first, Rabbi Farhi was depicted as an innocent victim, later he became a dubious victim, and at the peak he was suspected of being a criminal. Since then he has chosen to remain silent, upon the advice of his lawyer and of the police. He came to the meeting in order to refute vicious reports that have appeared in the Israeli media. He has family in Israel and it is important to him that the Jewish people know that he has fallen victim to an evil plot. Before he took a seat in the lobby of a hotel in Montparnasse, his bodyguard made sure that he was in no danger. [...] haaretz.com (*) Message 18473577