Shorts: Mideast

Prime minister's son indicted

jerusalem (jps) | Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's son, Knesset member Omri Sharon, was indicted by the attorney general of Israel on charges of illegally financing the bulk of his father's primary campaign for leadership of the Likud in 1999.

As a result of the indictment, Omri Sharon gave up his Knesset immunity from prosecution.




Pullout opponents curse Sharon

jerusalem (jta) | Israelis opposed to the upcoming Gaza Strip withdrawal reportedly put a death curse on Ariel Sharon.

Yediot Achronot reported last week that 20 religious Jews gathered in the northern town of Rosh Pina last week for an ancient rite, which involves mystical incantations by candlelight.

According to Ynet, the paper's Web site, the participants asked God to strike Sharon down to prevent next month's withdrawal from Gaza and the northern West Bank. "Better that God, rather than a mortal, kill him because his bodyguards are just too good," one participant was quoted as saying.

The Shin Bet declined comment on the report, which recalled similar curses placed on Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin before his assassination in 1995.




Tel Aviv bombing foiled

jerusalem (jta) | Israeli forces captured a Palestinian would-be suicide bomber en route from the Gaza Strip to Tel Aviv.

The 18-year-old al-Aksa Brigade terrorist apparently managed to climb over the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip last week, walking for several hours until he was intercepted near Kibbutz Nir Am.

He was carrying an 11-pound bomb and told Israeli interrogators he planned to blow himself up in Tel Aviv.

The Israeli media identified the terrorist as a relative of Salah Shehada, the Hamas chief assassinated by Israel in 2002.




Islamist video slams Egypt

jerusalem (jta) | An Islamist group released a video criticizing Egypt for allowing Israeli tourists to visit the resort that was bombed last week. The video released by the group al-Qaida of Iraq called Egypt's decision to allow Israelis to travel to an area that includes Sharm el-Sheik "evidence of how the Jews are desecrating the land of Muslims."

The video did not specifically mention last week's bombings, which killed at least 88 people and wounded more than 200 in the resort town. Sharm el-Sheik is popular with Israeli tourists, but no Israelis died in the attack. Shrapnel lightly wounded one Israeli Arab woman.