GAZA/SUDAN: Hamas says no members killed in Sudanese air strike, an attack the Khartoum government blames on Israel

Record ID: 353548

  • Title: GAZA/SUDAN: Hamas says no members killed in Sudanese air strike, an attack the Khartoum government blames on Israel
  • Date: 8th April 2011
  • Summary: GAZA CITY, GAZA (APRIL 7, 2011) (REUTERS) HAMAS OFFICIAL SAMI ABU ZUHRI WALKING OUT OF HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HAMAS OFFICIAL SAMI ABU ZUHRI SAYING: "We deny these allegations that any Hamas men were killed in the attack on the car (in Sudan). Hamas is not related to this attack at all." ABU ZUHRI DURING INTERVIEW
  • Embargoed: 23rd April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Gaza, Sudan
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAIQYGMIAUQ1VQWJRWDH8CO1DX
  • Story Text: Israeli media reported on Thursday (April 7), quoting Al-Arabiya, that the target of a mysterious air strike in Sudan on April 5th was a Hamas operative by the name of Abdel-latif al-Ashqar.
    Sudan accused Israel of launching a missile strike that killed two people near its main port city, in an attack that raised concerns about Khartoum's ability to stop arms trafficking across its remote east.
    Israeli papers reported al-Ashqar was considered the deputy of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, assassinated in Dubai in 2010, and took over his job as commander in charge of Hamas arming.
    Hamas, however, denied that any of it's operatives were killed in the strike, and al-Ashqar was alive and well.
    "We deny these allegations that any Hamas men were killed in the attack on the car (in Sudan). Hamas is not related to this attack at all,"Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
    "My nephew Abdel Latif is healthy. We called him last night and he said he is healthy. We ask God to protect him and all the resistance men. Abdel Latif and all the resistance men will stay thorn in the the throat of the occupation," added Ismail Al-Ashqar, a Hamas Law maker and uncle of al-Ashqar.
    Analysts say weapons are smuggled to Hamas-run Gaza through desert routes in Sudan's east, and reports say Israel was behind an air strike on a convoy of suspected arms smugglers in the region in 2009. Israel has never commented on this.
    Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor declined to comment on the latest accusation.
    The strike comes at a difficult time for Khartoum, which is hoping to be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Sudan is trying to attract investment and curb discontent over soaring prices and the secession of the oil-producing south. Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti accused Israel, which Khartoum considers an enemy state, of undertaking the attack in a bid to scupper Sudan's chances of being removed from the U.S. terror list and portray Sudan negatively.
    One of the two people killed in the strike was a Sudanese citizen who had no ties to Islamists or the government and it was not clear why his car was targeted, Karti said. He did not provide any details about the second person killed.
    Sudanese police say a missile struck the car near the port city and a state government official said the attack came from a foreign aircraft that flew in from the Red Sea. This is the second time in two years that blame has been put on Israel as the likely power behind an attack in the area.
    Sudanese officials in 2009 said unknown aircraft had killed scores in a strike on a convoy of suspected arms smugglers on a remote road in the east, which some reports said may have been carried out by Israel to stop weapons bound for Gaza.
    Hamas obtains its weapons via Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, bringing them in through tunnels. Sudan denies allowing illegal weapon shipments across its territory.
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