(Toronto Globe & Mail) Jeff Sallot - Israel says a Canadian man has confessed to being a trained assassin for Hamas with orders to kill Israeli officials and Jews in Canada and the U.S., marking the first time the Palestinian terrorist group has planned attacks in North America. Israeli security forces arrested Palestinian-born Jamal Akkal, 23, of Windsor, Ont., last month on suspicion of being a member of Hamas, Israeli embassy spokesman Ofir Gendelman said. During the subsequent investigation, Akkal admitted that he had been trained by Hamas in bomb-making and the use of small arms. Akkal was to use his Canadian passport to "carry out terrorist attacks in North America against Israeli and Jewish interests," Gendelman said. "Some of the scenarios for those terrorist attacks were assassinating a high-ranking Israeli official during his visit to North America, booby-trapping cars that belong to Israeli officials - diplomats - and killing a Jew who would come across Akkal's way," Gendelman said, attributing the information to the Israeli security services.
2003-12-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive