Shorts: Mideast

Bull's-eye for the Shin Bet

jerusalem (jta) | Israeli forces captured an alleged Palestinian sniper after a 30-month manhunt.

The Fatah terrorist who reportedly gunned down six Israeli soldiers and four civilians at the Wadi Haramiyah checkpoint in the West Bank in March 2002 was arrested outside Ramallah over the weekend, security sources said Wednesday, Oct. 6.

The daylight attack, during which the sniper picked off his victims one by one with a bolt-action rifle and then slipped away, shocked Israel and raised speculation that the Palestinians had hired a foreign mercenary with extensive battlefield experience.

According to security sources, the Palestinian detainee had confessed to the attack under Shin Bet interrogation.




U.S. vetoes Gaza resolution at U.N.

jerusalem (jta) | The United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Israel to halt its military operation in the Gaza Strip.

Eleven countries backed the resolution Tuesday, Oct. 5, in the Security Council, with Germany, Britain and Romania abstaining. In explaining the veto, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Danforth, said the resolution "does not mention even one of the 450 Kassam rocket attacks launched against Israel over the past two years" nor does it acknowledge two Israeli children killed by one of those attacks last week.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, said he was satisfied with the U.S. veto, but added that the resolution should never have been presented.




African Americans to meet Ethiopian Israelis

jerusalem (jta) | An American Jewish philanthropist wants to bring Israeli law students of Ethiopian descent on a goodwill mission to the United States.

"We want to show the Americans what opportunities Israel gives to Ethiopians who want to be lawyers," Joey Low told Ha'aretz this week.

Low called on Ethiopian students with good English skills and a commitment to Israel to apply for the two-week visits to U.S. campuses that he plans to fund in January.

Among his objectives, Low cited a plan to introduce the Israelis to African American counterparts in order to offset negative stereotypes they may have of Israel.




Libya eyes Israel ties

jerusalem (jta) | Moammar Khadafy's son met Israeli diplomats as part of efforts to normalize relations between Libya and the Jewish state.

Saif Al-Islam Khadafy held private talks with the Israeli delegation at an interparliamentary convention in Geneva last week, the Yediot Achronot newspaper first reported Monday, Oct. 4.

According to the daily, this was the latest round of contacts the Libyan leader's heir apparent has initiated with Israel in hopes of paving the way to normalization.

Libya has already won some diplomatic admiration by offering Jewish emigres who resettled in Israel the opportunity to return for visits.




Iraqi who visited Israel in trouble

jerusalem (jta) | An Iraqi court issued an arrest warrant for a politician who visited Israel.

Mithal Al-Alusi had already been thrown out of the Iraqi National Congress after he visited Israel for a conference on terrorism last month.

"What madness is this?" Al-Alusi was quoted as telling The Associated Press on Monday, Oct. 4. "They want to put me in prison with terrorists."




Israel's GDP rising

jerusalem (jta) | Israel was ranked third among 25 emerging markets in an economic survey.

The Jewish state's gross domestic product per capita is third, trailing only Hong Kong and Singapore, according to The Economist magazine. Israel's per capita GDP is almost $20,000, the magazine said.




Sephardi champion dies at 64

jerusalem (jta) | Shaul Amor, an Israeli politician who was a champion of Sephardi immigrants in the Jewish state, died Saturday at 64.

Amor was the mayor of the Israeli city of Migdal Ha'emek for 20 years. He was a member of the Israeli Knesset for three sessions and served as a minister without portfolio when Benjamin Netanyahu was prime minister.