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Monday, August 16, 2004

Bomb that exploded at W. Bank checkpoint was meant for Haifa

Haaretz - Israel News - Bomb that exploded at W. Bank checkpoint was meant for Haifa

Haifa was the original target of the bomb that exploded Wednesday south of the Qalandiyah checkpoint in the West Bank, killing two Palestinians and wounding six Israeli Border Policemen, interrogation of the three-member terrorist cell has revealed.
The bomb was smuggled inside a baby carriage.

The three suspects, members of Fatah's armed wing in the Jenin region, were all arrested in less than 48 hours after the attack.

Just hours after the blast, 29-year-old taxi driver Bassam Abied of Arabe village was arrested in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Abied gave interrogators information leading to the arrest of another cell member, Mohammed Ayoush, also a 29-year-old from Arabe.

Early Friday morning, Border Police located the third suspected cell member, Wail Na'irat, 29, of the West Bank village of Mitlon, hiding out at a mosque in the village of A-Ram, north of Jerusalem.

The investigation indicates that the attack was planned by the Fatah's senior operatives in Jenin, Zakaria Zubeidah and the cell's direct handler, Mohammed Abu-Khalifa.

They planned to have the bomb detonated at the Talpiot outdoor market in Haifa.