HAMAS DOES AN ABOUT FACE AND DENIES ABUDCTING OR HAVING CONTROL OVER KIDNAPPED ISRAELI
Randy L. Harrington
July 02, 2006
SYRIA—Hamas in an outstanding reversal over original statements now says that they have nothing to do with the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier an have no influence over his Palestinian captor.
Hamas' military organization was one of the three groups that claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Moussa Abu Mazouk, an Aide to Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in an Associated Press International interview said “The military people, the resistance fighters, and the mujahedeen are decision makers in everything that's related to the prisoner.” He claimed that the military leadership “is independent, their planning is independent, their decisions are independent.
Under Hamas it is the political wing that Mashaal heads that dictates general policy for the entire organization. Earlier this week Marzouk insisted that the kidnapped Israeli soldier was "in hands that will protect him and treat him well.” When asked if his statement was based on information he replied and laughed “these are facts.”
Israel believes, and has accused Mashaal who is in exile in Damascus of being the mastermind behind the June 25 kidnapping and indicated that he is a possible target for assasination.
Despite denying involvement in the kidnapping Hamas leaders have taken precautions and have changed homes, abandoned the use of cellular telephones, and have been communicating through messages, and coded missive carried by trusted messengers, because of the concern of the Israeli threats.
Hamas' leaders in Syria, who also insist that they had nothing to do with the kidnapping, and they have no influence over the captor have been working 20 hour days to try to free the captive. Their claim is that they are responding to international requests for help in the negotiation process.
In an Associated Press interview Osama Hamdan, Hamas' Lebanon representative said that “We take the Israeli threats serious, and we know the occupation will not pass up the opportunity to get the movement's leadership.”
It is militants that are close to Hamas that have claimed responsibility for kidnapping 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Salit on June 25. Attention has focused on what role the Damascus-based political leadership played in the kidnapping, and its actions since the kidnapping.
John Bolton the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations has officially called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to arrest Mashaal who is in exile in Syria, and close the Hamas office in the Syrian capital.
Hamas has denied that they control the actions of the Hamas military since the beginning of suicide attacks against Israel in the 1990s.
Palestinian officials in Syria have said that this crisis has kept Hamas leaders busy, with the unknown number of members of the politburo barely getting four hours of sleep a day. The Palestinian official said that members of the politburo rarely meet for security reasons.
Hamdan has blamed the failure of the negotiations of the kidnapped Israel soldier because Israel refuses to agree to a deal offered by the kidnappers in which the kidnapped soldier would be exchanged for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in addition to female, and teenage Palestinians jailed by Israel. Israel has taken a hard lined approach that they don't deal with terrorists, and have vowed to destroy the Palestinian terrorist organization, to include Hamas if the kidnapped soldier is not returned safely, and unconditionally.
Israel has responded to the crisis with full military deployment, and has began a campaign of annihilation, and occupation. Egypt has proposed that the kidnapped soldier be freed immediately, with a promise that Israel will release unspecified prisoners in the near future. But Hamdan said that militants want more than just promises. Israel in turn has been giving the Palestinians more than just promises for the last week as Israeli presence in the troubled Gaza strip, and region has increased.
SOURCES/CONTRIBUTORS: API
Copyright 2006 Randy L. Harrington. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Hamas' military organization was one of the three groups that claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Moussa Abu Mazouk, an Aide to Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in an Associated Press International interview said “The military people, the resistance fighters, and the mujahedeen are decision makers in everything that's related to the prisoner.” He claimed that the military leadership “is independent, their planning is independent, their decisions are independent.
Under Hamas it is the political wing that Mashaal heads that dictates general policy for the entire organization. Earlier this week Marzouk insisted that the kidnapped Israeli soldier was "in hands that will protect him and treat him well.” When asked if his statement was based on information he replied and laughed “these are facts.”
Israel believes, and has accused Mashaal who is in exile in Damascus of being the mastermind behind the June 25 kidnapping and indicated that he is a possible target for assasination.
Despite denying involvement in the kidnapping Hamas leaders have taken precautions and have changed homes, abandoned the use of cellular telephones, and have been communicating through messages, and coded missive carried by trusted messengers, because of the concern of the Israeli threats.
Hamas' leaders in Syria, who also insist that they had nothing to do with the kidnapping, and they have no influence over the captor have been working 20 hour days to try to free the captive. Their claim is that they are responding to international requests for help in the negotiation process.
In an Associated Press interview Osama Hamdan, Hamas' Lebanon representative said that “We take the Israeli threats serious, and we know the occupation will not pass up the opportunity to get the movement's leadership.”
It is militants that are close to Hamas that have claimed responsibility for kidnapping 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Salit on June 25. Attention has focused on what role the Damascus-based political leadership played in the kidnapping, and its actions since the kidnapping.
John Bolton the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations has officially called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to arrest Mashaal who is in exile in Syria, and close the Hamas office in the Syrian capital.
Hamas has denied that they control the actions of the Hamas military since the beginning of suicide attacks against Israel in the 1990s.
Palestinian officials in Syria have said that this crisis has kept Hamas leaders busy, with the unknown number of members of the politburo barely getting four hours of sleep a day. The Palestinian official said that members of the politburo rarely meet for security reasons.
Hamdan has blamed the failure of the negotiations of the kidnapped Israel soldier because Israel refuses to agree to a deal offered by the kidnappers in which the kidnapped soldier would be exchanged for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in addition to female, and teenage Palestinians jailed by Israel. Israel has taken a hard lined approach that they don't deal with terrorists, and have vowed to destroy the Palestinian terrorist organization, to include Hamas if the kidnapped soldier is not returned safely, and unconditionally.
Israel has responded to the crisis with full military deployment, and has began a campaign of annihilation, and occupation. Egypt has proposed that the kidnapped soldier be freed immediately, with a promise that Israel will release unspecified prisoners in the near future. But Hamdan said that militants want more than just promises. Israel in turn has been giving the Palestinians more than just promises for the last week as Israeli presence in the troubled Gaza strip, and region has increased.
SOURCES/CONTRIBUTORS: API
Copyright 2006 Randy L. Harrington. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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