(Los Angeles Times) Tracy Wilkinson - Maged Masri, 30, helped found the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, with other members of Arafat's Fatah movement. Speaking in spring 2000, several months before the collapse of the Camp David peace talks, with an M-16 slung across his back and a Czech-made automatic pistol at his hip, Masri dared anyone to disarm him or his men. After nightly attacks on Joseph's Tomb, a well-guarded site that included a Jewish yeshiva, the Balata gunmen overran the tomb as Israeli forces withdrew, a "victory" over the more powerful Israelis that crystallized the formation of the militia. Masri was caught last month and, after extensive interrogation, will probably be put on trial.
2002-12-31 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive