|
Israel says all militant leaders marked for death { March 23 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=481682§ion=newshttp://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=481682§ion=news
Israel says all militant leaders marked for death
Tue March 23, 2004 02:48 PM ET
By Megan Goldin
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel says all Palestinian militant leaders are "in its sights" and has put its security forces on high alert to meet any retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin.
A day after the assassination, Hamas appointed a supreme leader and a new chief for the Gaza Strip to replace Yassin, sources in the group said. Both are known as hardliners opposed to any accommodation with the Jewish state.
New supreme leader Khaled Meshaal, believed by Israel to be in Syria, heads the fundamentalist Islamic group's politburo. Gaza-based Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi has long acted as Hamas's spokesman.
Both have both survived Israeli attempts on their lives and Israel has accused them of directing attacks on its citizens.
"Everyone is in our sights," Israeli Internal Security Minister Tsahi Hanegbi told reporters on Tuesday. "There is no immunity to anyone."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan, commenting on the Israeli threat, urged all parties to "exercise maximum restraint".
Hamas has pledged to avenge Yassin, who was killed in an Israeli missile strike outside a Gaza mosque on Monday. Israel said the wheelchair-bound cleric and Hamas spiritual leader masterminded suicide bombings.
"We will fight them everywhere. We will hit them everywhere. We will chase them everywhere," Rantissi told thousands of mourners in Gaza's main soccer stadium.
Previous assassinations triggered waves of suicide bombings on buses and cafes that killed scores of people in Israel, which put its security forces on high alert after Yassin's death.
ARAFAT NEXT?
Israel's army chief hinted that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrilla leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah could also end up on the hit list, though security sources said there was no immediate plan to kill either.
"I think that judging by their hysterical responses (to Yassin's assassination) it appears they realise it is getting closer to them," General Moshe Yaalon told reporters.
Aides quoted Arafat as telling them after hearing that Yassin was dead: "I could be next."
A statement purporting to come from an al-Qaeda linked group and published on an Islamist Internet site vowed to attack Israel's ally the United States, which unlike many countries did not condemn the assassination. The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade claimed responsibility for the Madrid attack on March 11.
U.S. stocks and the dollar plunged as news of Yassin's death added to market fears. Sentiment remained fragile on Tuesday.
Israel stepped up strikes on militants after suicide bombers killed 10 people at Ashdod port last week. Sharon has ruled out peace talks with Palestinians until attacks on Israelis stop.
The killing of Yassin appeared to be part of Sharon's bid to smash the most potent Palestinian militant group to prevent it claiming victory if he goes ahead with a planned pullout of 7,500 settlers from Gaza, home to 1.3 million Palestinians.
Under a go-it-alone plan if a U.S.-backed peace "road map" remains stalled amid violence, Sharon has also threatened to draw a "security line" in the West Bank that would leave the Palestinians with less land than they seek for a state.
Many Israelis steered clear of crowded places on Tuesday and embassies abroad were told to tighten security. But the head of military intelligence suggested militants could do no more than they were already doing to carry out attacks.
In a demonstration an Israeli cabinet minister said widened a rift between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel, several thousand Israeli Arabs, chanting "revenge, revenge", marched in the biblical town of Nazareth in tribute to Yassin.
|
|
