Statement by Prime Minister Sharon, March 21, 2002.
Information Division, Israel Foreign Ministry – Jerusalem
“It is Arafat who is solely responsible for the continuation of murderous terrorist
attacks. Arafat has done nothing up until now to advance the cease-fire and he
is acting – whether covertly or through inability – to torpedo the mission of
General (ret) Zinni.
Israel will be unable – for long – to persist in a unilateral effort to
implement the Tenet document. This must be clear to all who expect a change
of direction on the part of the Palestinian Authority, i.e. a halt to violence and
terror.”
INFORMATION ON THE TERRORIST WHO CARRIED OUT TODAY’S SUICIDE
BOMBING ON KING GEORGE STREET IN JERUSALEM
(Communicated by the IDF Spokesperson and the Prime Minister’s Media
Adviser)
The terrorist who committed today’s suicide bombing in Jerusalem was a
Palestinian policeman, Mohammed Mashud Mohammed Hashaikeh, born in
1981, from the village of Taluza near Nablus.
Hashaikeh was arrested in mid-February by the Palestinian security services
following information they received about his intention to carry out a suicide
attack in Israel.
Hashaikeh admitted during questioning to planning to carry out a suicide
attack at the mall in Raanana and that he was working under the direction of
Tanzim and Islamic Jihad operatives in northern Samaria. Hashaikeh even
turned over the explosive belt he was going to use to carry out the attack. It
also emerged from Hashaikeh’s questioning that he as also involved in the
attempted car bomb attack near Mei Ami on February 8.
Several days after his arrest, the Palestinian Authority asked Israel to allow the
transfer of Hashaikeh to jail in Ramallah. The reason for the request – like similar
requests made recently by the Palestinian Authority of Israel – was that the
Authority could keep Hashaikeh under “quality” arrest in Ramallah (namely, in a
proper jail from which escape would be more difficult).
Israel acceded to the request and allowed Hashaikeh to be transferred to
Ramallah.
From today’s events it is evident that Hashaikeh was in fact released after
being transferred to Ramallah.
These events underscore not only the growing involvement of the Palestinian
Authority security apparatuses in terror, but the refusal of the PA to arrest
terrorists in an effective way for a period of time, even when the PA knows for
certain that these individuals intend to carry out mass terror attacks.
