http://www.worldonline.co.za/news/news_center_020813.511647.html
[Jerusalem, August 13 ] - A Palestinian militia leader who lost a card game with fellow gunmen struck a deal to pay off his "debt": he killed an Israeli soldier, the army has said. Atef Abayat, the Bethlehem leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, which is linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, shot and killed the soldier in April 2001. The soldier had been guarding Rachel's Tomb, an Israeli enclave in Bethlehem. The army said it learned of the card game from a captured militiaman, Omar Abu Sneineh. Abayat and two other gunmen were killed last November when the car in which they were driving exploded. Palestinian officials accused Israel of planting explosives in the car, a charge Israel has neither confirmed nor denied. According to Abu Sneineh's testimony, Abayat and other men were playing cards in April 2001 and decided that the loser would have to kill an Israeli soldier. After the killing, "Abayat proudly told his friends" he had carried out the attack, the army said. "This chilling story shows ... the worthlessness of the sanctity of human life in the eyes of Palestinian terror organisations," it said. The Maariv daily newspaper identified the slain soldier as Danny Deri, 19. He was killed when two bullets punctured his flak jacket as he completed guard duty at Rachel's Tomb. "I'm in shock that a cruel killer took my son's life because he lost a card game," the soldier's father was quoted as saying. ______________________________________________________________________ Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
