Jordan intercepts weapons shipment to Hizbullah
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Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Wednesday, July 18, 2001
AMMAN Ñ Jordan has halted a shipment of mortars and rockets believe destined for the Hizbullah for use on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
Jordanian sources said authorities stopped a truck filled with the armaments. The truck was heading through the Hashemite kingdom north toward the Syrian border.
The officials said they found 25 mortars on the truck. The sources said
Iran and Iraq have increased weapons shipments to Hizbullah and the
Palestinians.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Haaretz daily said Hizbullah has an arsenal of
7,000 Katyushas deployed in Lebanon. The daily said that over the last few
days Iran sent several tons of weapons to Lebanon aboard a Russian-built
Antonov-124 military transport.
In Israel, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a hitch-hiking station in
the Israeli town of Binyamina, south of Haifa. The bomber, said to have
carried a bomb that weighed 20 kilograms, and two Israelis were killed.
Three Israelis were also seriously injured in the blast.
The bomber was identified as a 20-year-old member of the Islamic Jihad
group who lived in the West Bank village of Burkin. Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat condemned the bombing and convened his security
chiefs.
Hours after the bombing, Israeli forces destroyed unmanned PA positions
around the West Bank cities of Jenin and Tulkarm. Israeli officials said the
military response was largely ineffective.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher condemned the
bombing and called on Israel to exercise restraint.
On Tuesday, Israeli police found and dismantled a large bomb in Tel
Aviv. Nobody was injured.
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