[The American Lion]

Official: Israel to Kill Hamas Founder

Friday January 16, 2004 3:31 PM

By MARK LAVIE

Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel will kill the founder of Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, in retaliation for a deadly attack on Israeli border guards, Israel's deputy defense minister said in the bluntest warning yet against leaders of the Islamic militant group.

The official, Zeev Boim, later softened his comments, saying the government had not made a specific decision to kill Yassin.

Israel has assassinated a number of Hamas commanders - but killing the Islamic movement's spritual leader, respected even by many Palestinians who do not support Hamas, would be a dramatic escalation and likely provoke revenge bombings.

Yassin, a quadriplegic, appeared in public on Friday, making his way to a Gaza City mosque near his home in a wheelchair pushed by an assistant.

``We do not fear the threat of death,'' Yassin, wrapped in a brown blanket, told reporters outside the mosque. ``We will not bow to pressure and resistance will continue until the occupation is destroyed.''

Yassin said he was not personally involved in planning attacks, denying allegations by Israeli security officials that he had approved Wednesday's bombing in which a female suicide bomber killed four Israelis at the Erez crossing into Israel.

Israeli officials also said Yassin issued a religious ruling allowing women to become bombers, after Hamas initially recruited only male assailants.

Security officials met Wednesday at the Defense Ministry to weigh a response to the latest Hamas bombing. One official said targeted killings of senior Hamas members are likely to resume after a lull of several months.

Late Thursday, Boim said Yassin is a key target.

``Sheik Yassin is marked for death, and he should hide himself deep underground where he won't know the difference between day and night. And we will find him in the tunnels, and we will eliminate him,'' Boim told Israel Army Radio.

Israeli officials have said in the past they would go after Hamas leaders in retaliation for deadly bombings, but Boim's comment marked the first time a senior official spoke in public about a particular militant being targeted.

Boim left for the United States immediately after his radio comments. Contacted later, he softened his comments, saying he had spoken generally and that at Wednesday's meeting at the Defense Ministry, no specific decision was made to kill Yassin.

Several security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said Yassin was not singled out in the discussions at the Defense Ministry. Killing the Hamas founder would require approval by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the officials said.

Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi said an attack on Yassin would also boost support for militants among the Palestinians. ``It doesn't take much brains to know that assassinating the political leadership of Hamas will have serious implications locally and regionally,'' she said.

Yassin, who founded Hamas in 1987 and spent several years in Israeli prisons, already dodged one Israeli attempt to kill him in September. A warplane dropped a 550-pound bomb on a building where he and other Hamas leaders were meeting, but Yassin escaped with just a small wound to his hand.

In the summer, Israel also launched several high-profile attacks on other Palestinian leaders, killing Ismail Abu Shanab, considered a relative pragmatist in the group. Two others, Abdel Aziz Rantisi and Mahmoud Zahar, narrowly escaped missile strikes.

Toward the end of the summer, Israel scaled back its attacks in concert with a significant drop in Hamas bombings. However, there was never evidence of even an unspoken agreement between the two sides. Israel insisted it forced a drop in attacks by arresting as many as 30 potential suicide bombers.

Hamas leaders, though often in hiding to avoid Israeli strikes, kept up their militant pronouncements and rebuffed efforts by Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and Egyptian mediators to declare a halt to attacks against Israelis. Yassin reiterated Friday that Hamas would not agree to a cease-fire.

The suicide bombing Wednesday ended the ``so-called quiet period,'' said the Israeli air force commander, Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz.

Without giving details, Halutz said the air force and military intelligence have developed ``pinpoint'' methods to ``hit only those who deserve it.'' However, dozens of bystanders have been killed in airstrikes in towns, cities and refugee camps.

Israel has a long history of hunting down Palestinians held responsible for attacks on Israelis. In the 1970s and 1980s, Israeli agents tracked down and killed members of Black September, the Palestinian terror group responsible for the bloody hostage-taking of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. In 1988, at the start of the first Palestinian uprising, Israeli commandos killed PLO military chief Khalil al-Wazir.

Since the outbreak of the latest fighting in September 2000, Israel has killed more than 140 suspected militants in targeted attacks, according to Palestinian medical officials. More than 110 bystanders have also been killed.

After Wednesday's bombing, Israel closed the Gaza crossings, preventing thousands of workers from reaching jobs in Israel and at an industrial zone near the Erez crossing.

Army Radio said Friday that security officials are at odds over the duration of the closure, with the military pushing to lift it Sunday morning and the Shin Bet security service asking to continue it.

The military argues that hardships for ordinary Palestinians should be minimized. Unemployment in Gaza is rampant, and closures worsen the problem.

Palestinian workers, who often spend more than an hour each day to get through the Erez crossing to jobs in Israel, worried that life would become even harder after the bombing. Some workers, though unwilling to directly criticize Hamas, questioned the wisdom of the target - the crossing they must use to get to their jobs.

Thousands marched through Gaza City during the funeral for the bomber, Reem Raiyshi, 22, a mother of two small children. Masked gunmen carried her coffin, draped in the green Hamas flag.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/s ... 06,00.html

Yes he shall finaily pay for his crimes!

What more proof do you want that hes evil?