Hamas official in charge of weapons killed in Port Sudan attack: report ARTICLECOMMENTS (24) EmailPrintSave
April 6, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The target of the air strike launched by an a foreign plane was a senior official in the Islamic militant group Hamas which controls Gaza strip, according to Al-Arabiya TV channel based in Dubai Vehichle that was destroyed in the attack in Port Sudan April 5, 2011 (Sudanese Media Center) The name of the official is Abdel-Latif Al-Ashqar who is responsible for arms within the movement. Al-Ashqar was described as the successor of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh who was assassinated in Dubai last year. However, a member of the Palestinian legislative council by the name of Ismail Al-Ashqar denied the report. He stressed that the alleged target who also happens to be his nephew is unharmed. On Tuesday night Sudan said that a Hyundai Sonata car was attacked near the coastal city killing its two passengers but gave conflicting accounts on whether this was carried out by a missile or a plane. Today Sudan foreign minister Ali Karti accused Israel of standing behind the raid. "This is absolutely an Israeli attack," Karti told reporters after his meting with the new US special envoy to Sudan. "Sudan reserves its right to react," before confirming that his country would lodge a complaint with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) against the Jewish state. Karti claimed that Israel wants to thwart a move by the US to remove Sudan from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism which was supposed to take place in July. The Israeli government declined to comment in line with its long-standing policy on external operations. But an unnamed senior Israeli military official told TIME Magazine Wednesday confirmed that Tel Aviv was responsible. “It’s not our first time there,” the official was quoted as saying, apparently referring to the 2009 airstrike that demolished an arms convoy near the border with Egypt. The government had said that one of the victims is a Sudanese citizens but gave no details on the identity of the other one but Karti emphasized that he had no links to the government or Islamist movements. Senior security sources in Khartoum told Sudan Tribune that the Sudanese was a man by the name of Mohamed Gubara. DNA samples were taken from the scene by teams for analysis. The Sudanese Media Center Website (SMC) which is widely believed to be run by the country’s security bureau, was the first to report the news yesterday saying that a foreign plane launched the attack at 9 pm local time (1800 GMT) in an area known as Kalaneeb which was described as 14 kilometers away from the coastal city of Port Sudan and on the main road leading to the regional airport. It further reported that Sudanese ant-aircraft defenses responded with heavy fires forcing the plane to flee the airspace. However, in the early morning hours of Wednesday SMC quoted the deputy Red Sea governor as saying that no planes were involved and that it was a missile attack but did not elaborate. A local MP by the name Mustafa Mandar had told SMC that the plane was tracking the vehicle until it came to an open area and sent bombs its way. He vehemently denied that Eastern Sudan has become a transit point for arms smuggling. "We heard three loud explosions," a source at Port Sudan airport told Reuters. "We went outside to see what was happening and eye witnesses told us they saw two helicopters which looked liked Apaches flying past." Two years ago it was disclosed that Israel carried out an unknown number of airstrikes in early 2009 in Eastern Sudan using fighter jets against a convoy of arms that was allegedly headed to the Gaza. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
