Source of Tel Aviv Bombing Remains Unclear
AP
Date: 03-01-05
By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM - Israel insists Syria was the mastermind behind a Tel Aviv suicide bombing that shook an informal Mideast truce. The Palestinians say it was Lebanese Hezbollah guerillas.
Neither side has given any evidence to back its claim, but the dueling accusations are politically convenient for both sides.
By blaming Hezbollah, the Palestinians were able to shift responsibility for the attack away from local militants and onto a foreign group, which could give it some public support at home for any action taken against those involved.
By blaming Syria, the Israelis were able to whip up outrage at one of its most implacable enemies just as Syria is fending off charges it orchestrated the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri two weeks ago.
The reaction was a major change from the response to previous bombings.
When Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) was alive, Israel held him and his government responsible for each attack ? regardless of which militant group claimed responsibility.
Israel has a much more cordial relationship with Mahmoud Abbas, who was elected last month to replace Arafat, and does not want to undermine him as he works to reform the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) and stop future attacks.
Israel held off on military retaliation for the weekend's bombing that killed five Israelis outside a Tel Aviv nightclub. Instead, Israel took only mild, easily reversible steps against the Palestinian Authority, including suspending the handover of five West Bank towns to Palestinian controls.
Negotiations on the handover were deadlocked, anyhow.
"It's quite clear that Abu Mazen is making an effort to prevent violence and so far he is quite successful, more than many people on the Israeli side had expected," Israeli military analyst Shlomo Brom said, referring to Abbas by his nickname. "Certainly it's in the Israeli interest to encourage him and support what he is doing."
Abbas has already negotiated a temporary agreement with militant groups to refrain from attacks ? one of the reasons the bombing is so puzzling.
The Islamic Jihad group, whose leaders are based in Syria, initially denied involvement in the attack, before reversing itself nearly 24 hours later and accepting responsibility.
In a video released after the attack, the bomber, Abdullah Badran, 21, was flanked by an Islamic Jihad flag and said he was going to carry out the attack on behalf of Islamic Jihad.
Palestinian lawmaker Abdel Aziz Shaheen told the Arab-language Al Ayyam newspaper he had known of previous attackers recording four different videos ? each on behalf of a different militant group ? and that Badran's video proved nothing.
Islamic Jihad official Mohammed Hindi told Associated Press Television News on Monday that the attack was the work of a small cell acting on its own. "The Islamic Jihad's policy has not changed. We are still committed to the period of calm, which we agreed to with Abu Mazen," he said.
Israeli officials said the attack was the work of the Islamic Jihad leadership, not simply a rogue cell. Some Israeli officials blamed Syria for the attack because it harbors the group. Some accused Syria of directly planning the bombing.
"We are convinced the instructions came from Damascus, and that it is inconceivable the instructions came from Damascus without the Syrians knowing about it," Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres (news - web sites) told Israel Radio on Tuesday.
Following an October 2003 suicide bombing by Islamic Jihad that killed 19 people at a restaurant in Haifa, Israeli sent warplanes to bomb a reputed Islamic Jihad training base in Syria.
This time, with Syria already on the defensive for Hariri's killing and facing growing calls to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, Israel opted for a diplomatic offensive.
Israel called in foreign diplomats representing European Union (news - web sites) countries and those on the U.N. Security Council for an intelligence briefing Monday about Syria's alleged involvement. Israeli officials refused to say what proof was presented to the ambassadors.
Israeli media also reported that security officials had been dispatched to the United States, Britain and France with intelligence proving Syria's complicity in the attack.
"I think the world is quite aware. We have to give it a little bit more detail, but it's not only the only wrong thing Syria is doing," Peres said.
The Syrian government has strongly denied any connection to the blast.
"This issue is untrue and baseless," Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan said Monday.
Palestinian officials say the local Islamic Jihad cell behind the bombing was freelancing for Hezbollah.
Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef went on Sunday to the bomber's northern West Bank hometown to personally investigate the situation, and Izzedine al-Sharif, the local governor, said all tracks lead to Hezbollah.
"This attack has nothing to do with Islamic Jihad or Hamas. It was funded from outside," he said.
Source
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