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Israelis seize 40 suicide belts from West Bank factory

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, April 4, 2002

Israeli military sources said troops today seized 40 explosive belts in a factory in the West Bank town of Salfit.

Israeli intelligence officials said the PA and its Islamic allies have prepared about 100 suicide bombers for attacks against the Jewish state. They said that at least 30 of them are being directed toward Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the United States was making no comment yesterday on reports Saudi Arabia finances the Palestinian suicide bombing campaign against Israel, Middle East Newsline reported.

U.S. officials said Iraq has increased its reward for suicide bombers from $10,000 to $25,000 over the last month. Since then, 12 suicide bombers completed attacks in Israel with one of them killing 26 Israelis.

The Paris-based Agence France Presse reported on Wednesday that the family of Jamal Nasser received a check for $5,000 from Saudi Arabia after he killed himself while driving a car full of explosives into an Israeli bus near Nablus. The mother of Nasser was reported as saying that she will use the money to help buy a new apartment in that West Bank city.

On Wednesday, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz ordered the payment of about $3 million to Palestinian charities. Nayef did not identify the charities but the official Saudi Press Agency said the minister urged Saudis to support the Palestinians and make deposits to a special fund established at all Saudi banks.

Palestinian sources acknowledge that Saudi Arabia has provided money to the families of suicide bombers. They said charities from such Gulf Cooperation Council countries as Qatar and Saudi Arabia have relayed thousands of dollars for the survivors of so-called martyrs.

U.S. officials said the Bush administration has been careful to avoid any connection between the Saudi kingdom and the Palestinian campaign to send suicide bombers to Israel. They said the administration has established that Riyad is cooperating with efforts to block financing to those groups deemed as terrorists by the State Department.

Saudi Arabia has provided the Palestinian Authority and Islamic groups about $500 million over the last 18 months, officials said. The officials said most of the money has gone to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat and the Hamas movement.

In closed briefings to Congress the CIA and other intelligence analysts have reported that Riyad has increased support to the Palestinian opposition Hamas. Hamas has been responsible for most of the 55 suicide missions in Israel over the past 18 months.

"We are not aware of any Saudi government financial support to families of suicide bombers," State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said.

Reeker, in a briefing on Tuesday, would not respond to questions of whether Saudi nationals or organizations are funding the families of suicide bombers. Reeker said he had submitted the query of Saudi involvement to his superiors and was not provided with details.

"I don't have anything else to share with you," Reeker said. "That was the answer. I think that was the question before, and that is the answer I got back."

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