(Jerusalem Post) - Khaled Abu Toameh Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin said in Gaza City on Friday that his movement is planning to kidnap IDF soldiers to exchange them for Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails. Hamas had planned and is still planning to kidnap Israelis "until we achieve victory. There is no solution for the prisoners except through kidnapping Israeli soldiers," Yassin said. Hamas condemned Fatah for making a "hasty claim" of responsibility for last Thursday's bus bombing in Jerusalem and published on its website a picture of the bomber, Ali Ja'arah, wearing a band with the inscription, "The Kassam Brigades," saying he was one of its members. Sources in the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem said the Hamas statement surprised them because Ja'arah, who worked as a policeman, was not known as a religious person. "On the contrary, he was closely associated with Fatah," the sources noted.
2004-02-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive