Security officials seized a shipment of guns and other weapons intended
for the Palestinian Authority at the port of Ashdod two months ago, the
Shin Bet reported Tuesday. The container had been packed in crates
supposedly filled with a donation of toys sent to the Gaza Strip by an
Islamic charity, the Shin Bet said.
Details of the operation carried out by the Shin Bet and customs
officials were released for publication yesterday.
Crates containing hundreds of kilograms of guns, ammunition, telescopic
lenses, and night-vision equipment were found inside the container, as
were "toys" in the shape of cigarette lighters with pictures
of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and the twin towers of the World
Trade Center in the background.
Had the shipment reached Palestinian hands, it would have enhanced
their fighting capability considerably, security officials said.
According to preliminary investigative reports, the shipment left
Taiwan in June. The manifest was signed by an Islamic charity and
addressed to a merchant in Khan Yunis. The ship passed through an unnamed
Arab country before reaching Ashdod.
Meanwhile, Hussein Shoukhi, the lawyer representing PLO financier Fuad
Shubaki, who is being held in a Jericho prison for his alleged role in the
Karine A weapons ship, denied allegations his client is in contact with
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Shoukhi said statements made by an unnamed senior Israeli official, and
published in yesterday's Jerusalem Post, that Shubaki is cooperating with
Saddam Hussein and is using the jail as a base for his activities, are
baseless.
"These allegations come only a few weeks after my client gave an
interview to the Post in which he strongly denied any link to the weapons
ship," Shoukhi said. "These fresh allegations, according to
which Gen. Shubaki is in touch with Saddam, have no legal or factual
basis."
Shoukhi said Shubaki is being held in the Jericho prison under
"strict, round-the-clock supervision.... How can he hold contacts
with the Iraqi president when he is locked up in prison and being watched
by American and British wardens? These charges don't make sense."
Shoukhi, who met with his client recently in the Jericho prison, said
the IDF has failed to provide any evidence directly linking Shubaki to the
Karine A. He said documents seized by the IDF in Shubaki's office in
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah do
not provide such evidence.
"The IDF published copies of Shubaki's passport, which show that
he never visited Syria or Iran or Russia, as some Israeli leaders
claimed," he said.
Shoukhi said he and his client were stunned to hear the new charges
regarding Saddam. "Every day we hear about a new charge, especially
through the media," he said. "Shubaki is not a politician. He
has been dealing with financial and investment projects without any
political affiliations."
Shoukhi also denied that Shubaki is a member of the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine.
"We insist that the Israeli government have enough courage to declare
that Shubaki is innocent, especially after the Israeli army raided his
office and confiscated all the documents there," he said.
