THE HANDSTAND | JULY 2006 |
Mossad
terror suspect confesses to
assassinations.
A Lebanese man has confessed to assassinating a number of senior members of Hezbollah and Palestinian armed groups over a seven-year period on behalf of Israeli intelligence. The Lebanese Army said on Tuesday that Mahmud Rafah, who was arrested along with three others last week in connection with the May 26 killing of two Islamic Jihad officials, was a leading member of a "terrorist" network behind at least three other major assassinations in Lebanon. "Investigations by military intelligence showed that the terrorist network that was discovered had links to the Israeli Mossad for several years and that its members underwent training both inside Israel and outside," the army statement said. "The network was tasked by this agency with carrying out these operations and was given secret communication and monitoring devices for this purpose, along with detailed maps of the target ... forged documents and bags with secret pockets." Israel has dismissed accusations it was behind the car bombing last month that killed Mahmud Majdhub, known as Abu Hamza, and his brother Nidal, both members of the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad, in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. Several Palestinian and Hezbollah officials had been killed in Lebanon in recent years in attacks that their organisations had blamed on Israel, their neighbour and enemy. Confession Jibril, killed in a bombing aimed at his car in Beirut, was the son of Ahmed Jibril, head of the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, a group opposed to Israel. The army said Rafah had also confessed
to planting other bombs that were either found and
defused before they were detonated or missed their
targets. Emile Lahoud, the Lebanese president, said they proved that "Israel had not ceased its attempts to sabotage Lebanon". Footage The find included an Israeli camera
that can be used to take detailed photographs of streets
while concealed within a bag, forged driving licences and
identity documents Rafah had received from Israel, the
army said. Other finds included a television
cabinet and a table fitted with secret drawers to conceal
coded messaging devices. The army said the attackers had used a
car door packed with explosives before being smuggled
from Israel, in the bombing that killed the two Islamic
Jihad officials in Sidon.
|