http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=241042&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=241042
Ibrahim, the Shin Bet wants you to join Qaida
By Danny Rubinstein
PA unveils Israeli intelligence scheme, denies Gaza links to bin Laden
Early last week, Rashi Abu Sba, head of the preventive security apparatus in
Gaza, the equivalent of the Shin Bet, accused the Israeli security service of
tricking young Palestinians into conducting missions in the name of Al-Qaida.
Last Tuesday, a young man named Ibrahim was presented to reporters in Gaza.
Ibrahim hid his face behind a mask, and told what happened to him.
He said that a year ago he sent in a personal, with his photo and phone number,
to East Jerusalem's Posta, a cultural-entertainment weekly with a personals
section. Three months later, the Gazan received a phone call from an older man,
who introduced himself as a merchant named Ahmed, who told Ibrahim that his
photo reminded him of his son. They spoke on the phone a number of times, with
Ahmed asking Ibrahim about the situation - and if he was a devout Muslim.
During one of the conversations, Ahmed told Ibrahim that he wanted to help
Gazans in economic distress and began sending money - cash in dollars and
Jordanian dinars - through the Nablus branch of the Cairo-Amman bank. Ibrahim
told Ahmed that he had never been arrested nor involved in any political
organization. Then, in one of the conversations, Ahmed said he was working for
Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida organization, and Ibrahim was meant to be one of its
organizers in northern Gaza since the group already had an infrastructure in
the south. Ahmed gave Ibrahim a list of people, mostly Hamas activists, and was
told to collect information about them and follow them so they could also be
drafted for the Al-Qaida cause.
The two never met, but at a certain point during their telephone contact,
Ibrahim became suspicious. He contacted a preventive security officer in Gaza
and told him the whole story. The officer looked into the matter and told
Ibrahim that Ahmed was an Israeli Shin Bet agent, and Ibrahim should
immediately cut off any contacts with him.
Palestinian sources said last week that the case was not unusual, and they
reported it, as well as similar cases, during a security meeting with top-level
U.S. security officials.
Ahmed from the Shin Bet
The incident was revealed against the background of the terror attacks on
Israelis three weeks ago in Mombasa, Kenya - the first Al-Qaida operation aimed
specifically against an Israeli target after the group had attacked a Jewish
target, the synagogue on Jerba Island, off the Tunisian coast. In the wake of
the Mombasa attack, Israeli intelligence circles began revealing information
about Al-Qaida operatives in Lebanon trying to recruit Gazan Palestinians.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon spoke about it,
and hinted that bin Laden is tightening his grip in Lebanon and among
Palestinians.
Those hints startled PA Chairman Yasser Arafat and his people. From his office
in Ramallah, Arafat told reporters, "Israel's accusations tying Palestinians to
Al-Qaida are meant to justify the intensification of attacks against our
people." An official Palestinian Authority statement added: "We vehemently deny
the Israeli falsehoods about Al-Qaida being in Gaza." This was followed by Abu
Sba's revelations about the Ibrahim episode, which, irrespective of the
specific case, is common practice among intelligence services worldwide.
[...]
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