[News] Zionist Agents Fail in Attempt to Assassinate New Hamas Leader

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Zionist Agents Fail in Attempt to Assassinate New Hamas Leader

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=5/3/2004&Cat=2&Num=038


TEHRAN (MNA) – The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad failed in an attempt 
to assassinate the new Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.

Reports from reliable sources indicate that five Yemeni Jews disguised in 
Muslim clothing recently took part in a ceremony held in commemoration of 
former Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi.

They had entered the Yarmook camp in Damascus to meet with Khaled Meshaal 
and Mousa Abu Marzook, a high-ranking member of the Hamas political office.

The five members of the group who were commissioned by Mossad to 
assassinate Khaled Meshaal in Damascus were captured by his bodyguards 
before they could take any action.

The five men were then handed over to Syrian security forces but have not 
yet been identified.

During interrogations the men confessed that they entered Syria through 
Jordan and were commissioned by the Mossad to assassinate Khaled Meshaal 
and Mousa Abu Marzook.

Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi was killed by a Zionist helicopter 
missile strike in Gaza City on April 17.

This was the Mossad’s second failed assassination attempt against Khaled 
Meshaal.

The Mossad first attempted to assassinate Meshaal by dispatching an 
assassination team to Jordan on September 25, 1997, when agents carrying 
forged Canadian passports tried to kill Meshaal by injecting him with poison.

Following the attack, former Jordanian King Hussein announced that the 
Mossad agents would all be executed if an antidote was not sent to Jordan 
in 48 hours. Meshaal’s life was saved after an Israeli doctor delivered an 
antidote for the poison.


Report: Mashaal escapes assasination
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1083561524787

Khaled Abu Toameh May. 3, 2004

Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip and Damascus claimed Monday that Israel 
has made another unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Khaled Mashaal, head 
of the movement's political bureau.

They said the Syrian authorities and Hamas activists in Syria arrested 
members of a Mossad cell who had arrived in Damascus to assassinate 
Mashaal. It was not clear when the suspects were arrested and what their 
nationalities were.

However, senior Hamas officials in Gaza City described some of the members 
of the alleged hit team as "Jews of Yeminite origin."

According to the officials, the suspects, who were now being interrogated 
by the Syrian authorities, arrived in Syria from Jordan to participate in a 
rally commemorating slain Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin. The rally was held at 
the Yarmouk refugee camp last week.

"They presented themselves as Yemite Muslims and requested to meet with 
Mashaal and Musa Abu Marzouk (another senior Hamas leader)," said a Hamas 
official. "But they were arrested just as they were making final 
preparations to assassinate Mashaal."

The Syrian government has neither confirmed nor denied the alleged 
assassination plot.

Hamas sources in Damascus said five people had been detained for 
questioning, but refused to elaborate. They said the suspects were arrested 
by Hamas activists in the refugee camp and handed over to the Syrian 
authorities.

If true, this would be the second time that Mashaal escapes an attempt on 
his life in recent years. In 1997, two Mossad agents were arrested in 
Jordan following a botched assassination attempt against Mashaal. They were 
released as part of a deal according to which Israel was forced to release 
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin from prison.

Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah said they were unaware of the 
purported attempt on Mashaal's life. One official said he did not rule out 
the possibility that the story was made up by Mashaal in an attempt to 
boost his popularity inside Hamas.



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