(Ha'aretz)(Yediot Ahronot/Maariv) IDF forces Sunday night raided the Gaza headquarters and training base of the PA's Preventive Security Force - set up by peace agreements to block terrorist acts aimed at Israel and headed until recently by Mohammed Dahlan. The IDF commander of the Gaza Division, Brig.-Gen. Yisrael Ziv, said, "instead of blocking terrorism, the organization initiates and manufactures terrorism....There is no doubt that over the past two years, people in the organization were engaged in manufacturing and distributing weaponry and even actively participated in terror attacks along with Islamic Jihad and Hamas." Preventative Security initially worked closely with the Shin Bet secret service, often with the help and supervision of the CIA. Ziv said, however, that Preventative Security now has broad ties with Fatah militants as well as Islamic radicals. A captured officer of the force, Yusuf Mukdad, admitted that the organization operated a network of arms workshops that produced Kassam missiles, mortars, land mines, and anti-tank grenades, which were then distributed free to terror groups from Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad.
2002-11-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive