TEL AVIV Ñ The Israeli arrest of a suspected Irish Republican Army
bomber was apparently a case of mistaken identity.
Israeli security sources said the arrest of John Morgan, 40, over the
weekend near Ramallah was apparently a case of mistaken identity. They said
Britain had relayed information to Israel that Morgan was an IRA bomber who
might have been hired to train Palestinian insurgents in the assembly of
bombs and mortars.
The sources said the man arrested over the weekend has been identified
as a journalist and supporter of the International Solidarity Movement,
which has sent so-called human shields to protect Palestinians from Israeli
military operations. Morgan does not have any connection with the IRA, the
sources said.
The man being held in Israeli detention and the IRA bomber share the
same name, the sources said. They said they expect Morgan, who arrived in
Israel more than weeks ago and spent much of his time in the Jenin area of
the northern West Bank, to be released.
Israel has been on alert for the arrival of Islamic insurgents or their
supporters who seek entry in the guise of Western, particularly British,
tourists. The sources said Hizbullah has been trying to send Western
nationals to Israel to carry out a major attack against a civilian
installation.
Hizbullah is said to have maintained financing of Palestinian insurgency
attacks despite the truce declared late last month. On early Tuesday, a man
identified as a member of the ruling Fatah movement attacked a crowded Tel
Aviv restaurant and knifed to death one Israel. The Palestinian, a resident
of the Jerusalem suburb of Azariyah, was shot and wounded.
