Israel refuses to allow Shqaqi burial in Gaza.
The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine complained yesterday that Israel had refused to let it bring back the body of it's assassinated leader, Fathi Shqaqi for burial in his native town of Rafah in self ruled Gaza.
Palestinian security sources in Gaza informed the movement that Israel is refusing completely to transfer the body of Doctor Shqaqi to be buried in Rafah said Ala Al Saftawi, editor of the Islamic Jihad's allasuklal newspaper in Gaza.
Islamic Jihad had accused Israel's Mossad of assassinating Shqaqi in Malta last Thursday and vowed revenge. Israel did not confirm or deny the charge but welcomed his death. Shqaqi's body was flown to Syria yesterday for burial there. Saftawi said Islamic Jihad believed the US Central Intelligence Agency gave Israel the green light to kill Shqaqi.
"The estimations in the Islamic Jihad movement say that the American intelligence looked through the Israel plan to kill Fathi Shqaqi, approved it and gave the green light for Israel to work it out" he told Reuters. This was done in the Meeting between the head of the CIA and Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, on Thursday the 19th of October, in Tel Aviv",Saftawi said.
PLO and Islamic Jihad sources in Amman said yesterday they expected Shqaqis successor to tilt the movement towards more militancy and violence.Ramadan Abdallah Shallah, 38, a Gaza born, western educated political science and economics professor, was unanimously elected secretary general of Islamic Jihad two days after the assassination of Shqaqi.
In his first public appearance after his appointment, Shallah was present at Damascus airport when Shqaqi's body was flown to Syria from Malta.Shallah, along with Shqaqi founded the Islamic Jihad Movement in the early 1980s in Gaza. In the end of 198O he moved to Britain to continue his academic career before moving to the United states where he obtained a docorate in political science and economics and taught. He was remembered as a fiery preacher in Gaza's mosques before He left for Britain. He left the United States last year and now resides in either Lebanon or Syria.
Islamic Jihad officials said that since Shqaqi's death there was a feeling the movement was rapidly tilting towards violence after months of refraining from attacks in an uneasy truce with the Palestinian Authority. "The truce period with the Palestinian Authority is over. After months of quiet, the only thing on the movement's mind is revenge" said an Islamic Jihad official. "I believe we are moving towards armed struggle and militaries."
PLO officials said they warned Jihad to suspend attacks against Israel to allow the expansion of Palestinian authority to the occupied West Bank under a self-rule deal. Shqaqi's killing had torn up this unwritten agreement, they added.
Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, commenting on the killing of the Islamic Jihad, Fathi Shqaqi, said on Monday it was "positive" when a terrorist was eliminated. I think it's a positive when a terrorist killer and murderer is removed from our scene. Netanyahu, leader of the right wing Likud party, told reporters after giving a speech in Washington.
He said he did not know who was behind the killing in Sliema, "I don't necessarily advocate the removal of terrorists and murderers as a policy, but in these cases where removal of the leader would dismantle the terrorist and murder capacity of the organisation which they lead then it shouldn't be thrown out of hand, then it should be considered" he said. "I'm sure there will be repercussions, but I don't think that should deter those who stand in the face of such terrorism from taking actions against the organisation and their leaders.
