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Bombers of Internet cafes now targeting 'sluts' at Gaza U.

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, March 14, 2007

GAZA CITY — A new Islamic group has claimed responsibility for the recent bombings of two Internet cafes in the Gaza Strip.

A group named "Swords of Truth in the Land of Steadfastness" said the current campaign has targeted what it termed "the symbols of corruption in the Gaza Strip."

"The group will not make any concessions regarding the punishment for violations of God's laws," Abu Shueib Al Maqdisi, identified as the commander of the group, said on March 12.

Al Maqdisi also warned women in Gaza Strip universities. He said his group has collected a list of girls deemed "sluts and corrupting others at the universities."

The statement said these girls would be "punished" unless their families did so first. The group did not elaborate.

[In Gaza City, a Hamas commander was killed and two others were injured in clashes with the Fatah-aligned Preventive Security Apparatus on Tuesday, Middle East Newsline reported. The Hamas operative was identified as Allah Haddad, the Gaza City commander of the Hamas-sponsored Executive Force, an agency in the Palestinian Authority Interior Ministry.

On Wednesday, the home of a senior commander of the Fatah-aligned National Security Force came under fire.]

The statement marked the first claim of responsibility for what PA security officials acknowledged was an Al Qaida-aligned campaign against Western influences in the Gaza Strip. Over the last month, Internet cafes and stores that sold Western music — several of them believed owned by senior PA officials — have been bombed or their Palestinian owners abducted.

"We will reach all those who were involved with the individuals who were punished, because we have proof and their confessions," Al Maqdisi said. "Their rank will not protect them from punishment."

The Islamic group said Internet cafes would be forced to close after 10 p.m. The statement described them as houses of prostitution.

PA officials said warnings by so-called Al Qaida-aligned groups have been issued over the last year. They said they could not discount that the attacks stemmed from organized crime under a jihad cover.


Copyright © 2007 East West Services, Inc.

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