NewsMine — war-on-terror — israel — hostilities — 2004 — 04-jan-mar — Viewing Item

Israeli cabbie accused of transporting bomber Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/12/israel.cab.driver/ http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/12/israel.cab.driver/ Israeli cabbie accused of transporting bomber JERUSALEM (CNN) --An Israeli cabdriver appeared before a judge Monday accused of driving a Palestinian suicide bomber to the site of a December 25 attack. The case marks the first time an Israeli Jew has been accused of such a crime. The cabdriver was identified as Ofer Schwartzboim, 39, a father of four from the Oranit settlement near the West Bank town of Qalqilya. He acknowledged taking two men to the blast site but said he did not know one was a suicide bomber. The bomber's blast killed four Israelis and injured more than 20 others. (Full story) Schwartzboim faces charges of abetting a killing, causing serious injury and driving Palestinians staying in Israel illegally. He was ordered held while investigators continue their probe. In a statement, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office said that the Israeli general security services arrested Schwartzboim and that a Palestinian who accompanied the bomber -- who was later arrested -- identified the Israeli as the cabdriver who drove them to the scene of the attack. The prime minister's office said Schwartzboim told investigators that the bomber's guide called him to drive the two from Kfar Qassem, an Arab-Israeli town bordering the West Bank, to Geha Junction. He said the two paid him 50 Israeli shekels ($11 in U.S. currency) each for the ride. He said the man later identified as the bomber's guide sat next to him and the bomber sat silently in the back, the prime minister's office said. Schwartzboim said he assumed he did not speak Hebrew, it said. "Schwartzboim said that when he first heard of the attack, it was reported that there were two explosions, and the thought crossed his mind that it was the two Palestinians that he had just driven. Later he heard that there was one explosion, and so he dismissed that thought," the statement from the prime minister's office said. "In his interrogation, he said that as part of his job he used to drive a lot of Palestinians who don't have permits to be in Israel. He also said that he was aware that Palestinians entering Israel without permits may be bombers that wish to carry out attacks inside Israel. He said that at the beginning he used to check their bags but could not know who was coming in for work and who wished to carry out an attack."

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