Saturday, February 16, 2008

Hamas alleges assassination plot


Al-Jazeera

"Hamas has accused Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and his aides of being behind a plot to assassinate a senior Hamas official.

At a news conference in Gaza city on Saturday, Hamas broadcast videotaped confessions from alleged suspects who said they were ordered to assassinate Ismail Haniya, prime minister of the Gaza-based government.

Several of the alleged suspects said they received the instructions from Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a senior Abbas aide......

Nafez Dabaki, one of the alleged suspects, said in the video that he had been offered 50,000 Jordanian dinars ($70,500) if he blew himself up at a mosque where Haniya was praying.

Dabaki said he was asked three times to carry out the attack.

Mohammed Kheil, another alleged assailant, said he had been asked to kill Haniya at a public rally....Kheil said he carried 25kg of explosives in a backpack at the rally but left after being spotted by security guards.

Said Siyam, a senior Hamas official, said Hamas is increasingly less inclined to engage in dialogue with Abbas and his aides. "How can we talk about dialogue with this group, after we discovered this conspiracy which received the blessing of senior leaders who are sitting in the Muqataa (Abbas' headquarters) in Ramallah," Siyam said......."

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