MIDDLE EAST: LEADING ISLAMIC ACTIVIST WOUNDED скачать в хорошем качестве

MIDDLE EAST: LEADING ISLAMIC ACTIVIST WOUNDED

(19 Feb 2001) Arabic/Eng XFA A leading activist in the Islamic militant group Hamas was critically wounded on Monday in the West Bank town of Nablus. The wounded man, Mahmoud Madani, who was 25, was walking from a mosque in the Balata refugee camp to his nearby grocery store when he was gunned down. Witnesses said that the shots were fired from two locations. They said some shots came from the direction of an Israeli military outpost on a hill overlooking the camp and others came from a nearby road under Israeli control. The Israeli Army made no comment. Madani was an important Hamas figure in the area and had spent four years in an Israeli jail. In the past five months Israeli troops have killed more than a dozen Palestinians on suspicion of involvement in attacks on Israelis. During a press conference a former American Ambassador, Ron Lauder, blamed Arafat for the current cycle of violence, and questioned how the U-S could continue giving money to the Palestinians. Lauder is a millionaire businessman who is president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. He arrived in Israel on Sunday along with hundreds of other Jewish leaders to show their support for Israel during the Palestinian uprising. Prime Minister-elect Aerial Sharon met with Centre Party member and ex-chief of Staff, Amnon Lipkin Shahak in order to offer him a place in his government. Some say Lipkin would be a good option for Sharon if the continuing coalition talks with Labor bare no fruit. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) "Apparently when Israeli intelligence could not prove anything on him (Mahmoud Madani) in the courts they decided to deal with him outside the law through assassination, which it practices." SUPERCAPTION: Jamal Mansour, Hamas SOUNDBITE (English) "We need international protection. Occupation is the highest form of terrorism and violence and Israel is the occupier" SUPERCAPTION: Saeb Erekat, Palestinian negotiator SOUNDBITE (English) "We are also sending a message to Yasser Arafat that we hold him personally responsible for the violence that is taking place. We also feel, and we question very, very much as an organisation, the US aid to the Palestinians in light of all the violence that is taking place. And we are determined to see that the world realises that a great deal of this violence can be stopped and strictly aided by the PLO and Yasser Arafat." SUPERCAPTION: Ron Lauder, president of Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...