Egypt demands extradition of 3 Hamas militants over support for Sinai terrorists
Demands made to Hamas PM Haniyeh to turn over 3 militants who provided indirect support to radical groups, according to a report by East Jerusalem newspaper al-Quds; in Sinai, clashes between militants, police continue.
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Militants in northern Sinai.
Photo by AFP
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Egyptian
intelligence made a request to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh,
using senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar as an intermediary, to
extradite members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’
paramilitary wing, according to an al-Quds newspaper report on Thursday.
A senior official informed the newspaper that the three militants
provided indirect support to radical groups in Sinai, and are connected
to weapons smuggling as well.
According to a security official in Ramallah, the three militants, Iman
Nufal, Riyadh al-Atar, and Mohammed Sabu Shimleh, are connected to
Hamas’s forces in the southern part of the Gaza strip, and have refused
to turn themselves over to the Eyptians.
Al-Quds also reported that on Thursday morning, that the Israeli Mossad
had transferred a list of names to Egyptian Intelligence that contained
nine names of terrorists connected to the attack in Rafah. Armed
attackers from Sinai breached Israel's border on Sunday night,
in an armored personnel carrier that was stolen in a raid on an
Egyptian police station, in which around 16 Egyptian policemen were
killed.
Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political
Bureau, said that the nine are connected to a group called "The Armies
of Monotheism and Jihad in Palestine," and their names are held by
Egyptian intelligence.
Abu Marzook claimed that Israeli forces killed two of the nine
terrorists near the location of the attack. Ahmed Salaam, one of the
nine, had attempted to escape into Gaza. Abu Marzook stressed that 9
militants took part in the attack, not 35, as the Egyptians claimed. Abu
Marzook blamed the Mossad for the attack once again.
Meanwhile, Egyptian police fought gunmen in northern Sinai's main town
of al-Arish on Thursday, state television reported, a day after security
forces began a crackdown on Islamist militants in the region.
"Clashes resumed between armed men and police forces in front of police
station number two in al-Arish," Nile News television reported, citing
its correspondent there
It did not identify the gunmen. No further details were available and
security officials could not immediately be reached for comment. A
Reuters correspondent in al-Arish said the town was now calm after the
reported clashes.
The army's security sweep follows an attack on border guards on Sunday
by gunmen who then stormed through an Israeli border crossing. Israel
said it was a "wake-up call" for Egypt to take a firmer grip on a region
threatened by growing lawlessness.
Egyptian aircraft struck at suspected militant targets near the border
and troops raided villages on Wednesday after Sunday's attack.
The Egyptian army was bringing in extra troops, tanks and other armored
vehicles to al-Arish on Thursday to expand the security operation, a
security source said.
As published online at Haaretz, 9 August 2012
posted by Pieface | 6:39 PM
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