The terrorists who carried out the suicide bombing at Mike's Place in Tel Aviv on April 29 crossed from Gaza into Israel with the aid of an Italian journalist, according to details of the investigation revealed Monday following the lifting of a court-imposed gag order.

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Last Update: 03/06/2003 04:15

Foreign journalist unwittingly aided
U.K. bombers enter Israel

By Amos Harel and Roni Singer, Haaretz Correspondents


The terrorists who carried out the suicide bombing
at Mike's Place in Tel Aviv on April 29 crossed
from Gaza into Israel with the aid of an Italian
journalist, according to details of the
investigation revealed Monday following the
lifting of a court-imposed gag order.



The bombing, which killed three people, was carried out by a
British citizen of Pakistani origin, Asif Mohammed Hanif.
His accomplice, Omar Khan Sharif, also a British national
of Pakistani origin, fled when his explosive device failed to
detonate. His body was found two weeks later in the sea off
Tel Aviv coast. It is not known whether his death
was accidental, due to exhaustion or whether he
drowned himself deliberately.

According to the details released for publication
by the Tel Aviv District Court, Hanif and Sharif
were recruited by the militant Hamas organization
in Damascus, where they had studied before coming
to Israel.

The two traveled to Israel via Jordan, crossing
the Allenby Bridge on April 12, and then
proceeded to travel throughout the country, as
well as the West Bank and Gaza, without
hindrance. In Gaza, they finalized plans for the
attack with Hamas leaders in the Strip and
created a "cover" for themselves by posing as
left-wing activists and attending events
sponsored by the International Solidarity
Movement.

The biggest problem they faced was how to cross
from Gaza back into Israel once they were ready
to carry out the attack. They solved this problem
with the aid of an Italian journalist, who
offered them a ride through the checkpoint in her
car together with some other Italian journalists.


At the time, foreign journalists were allowed to
pass through checkpoints virtually without
inspection, so this assistance enabled the two to
slip through undiscovered. It is because of this
incident that Israel has since tightened the
rules for foreign journalists and now insists on
subjecting them to checkpoint inspections.

The Italian journalist was interrogated by the
police and the Shin Bet security service, but
apparently had no idea that the two were
terrorists. She has since left the country. The
left-wing activists with whom Sharif and Hanif
spent time in Gaza have also been interrogated,
and some have been deported. But they also appear
to have been unaware that the two were
terrorists.

Contrary to the security services' initial
assessment, Hanif and Sharif apparently did not
bring their bombs with them when they came from
Jordan. Shortly after the attack, Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz had announced that the
explosives were smuggled through the Allenby
Bridge crossing in a Koran.

After further investigation, however, the security
services have concluded that the two probably
obtained the bombs in Gaza. The scanners at the
Allenby Bridge are highly sophisticated and would
almost certainly have detected any explosives; it
would have been much easier to get a bomb past
the less sophisticated scanners at the Erez
checkpoint from Gaza into Israel.

Another initial assessment that further
investigation seems to have refuted is that the
attack was aided by an international terrorist
organization, such as Hezbollah or even Al-Qaida.
The official statement released last night said
merely that the security services have been
unable to prove any international involvement,
but the unofficial conclusion is that the bombing
was apparently a homegrown production by Hamas in
Gaza. The mastermind was probably Mohammed Def,
who heads Hamas's military wing in the Strip.

Hanif and Sharif spent most of their time in Tel
Aviv at a small hostel called Hayarkon 48 on
Hayarkon Street. According to the proprietors, it
may be there that they obtained the idea of
making Mike's Place their target: During several
days of their stay, a large poster prominently
displayed on the lobby bulletin board invited
hotel guests to musical evenings at the nearby
pub.

The hotel's owner, Omri Gur-Lavie, said the two
never aroused any suspicions in the hotel staff.
"After all, they presented British passports and
spoke perfect English," he said. "There was not a
hint of Arabic, other than their names."

But Sharif evidently stopped seeming innocent
after he discovered a problem with his explosive
belt en route to the attack and decided to turn
back, leaving Hanif to carry out the bombing
alone.

The attack on Mike's Place will be remembered as a
dismal failure on the part of the security
services, which failed to detect anything
suspicious either when the terrorists entered
Israel or at any of their numerous border
crossings between Israel and the territories. As
a result of this failure, security has been
tightened at the Erez checkpoint and more
stringent checks are being performed on left-wing
activists and Palestinians with foreign passports
who try to enter Israel.

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