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Last update - 04:15 03/06/2003
Foreign journalist unwittingly aided U.K. bombers enter Israel
By Amos Harel and Roni Singer, Haaretz Correspondents

The terrorists who carried out the suicide bombing at Mike's Place in Tel Aviv on April 29 crossed from Gaza into Israel with the aid of an Italian journalist, according to details of the investigation revealed Monday following the lifting of a court-imposed gag order.

The bombing, which killed three people, was carried out by a British citizen of Pakistani origin, Asif Mohammed Hanif. His accomplice, Omar Khan Sharif, also a British national of Pakistani origin, fled when his explosive device failed to detonate. His body was found two weeks later in the sea off Tel Aviv coast. It is not known whether his death was accidental, due to exhaustion or whether he drowned himself deliberately.

According to the details released for publication by the Tel Aviv District Court, Hanif and Sharif were recruited by the militant Hamas organization in Damascus, where they had studied before coming to Israel.

The two traveled to Israel via Jordan, crossing the Allenby Bridge on April 12, and then proceeded to travel throughout the country, as well as the West Bank and Gaza, without hindrance. In Gaza, they finalized plans for the attack with Hamas leaders in the Strip and created a "cover" for themselves by posing as left-wing activists and attending events sponsored by the International Solidarity Movement.

The biggest problem they faced was how to cross from Gaza back into Israel once they were ready to carry out the attack. They solved this problem with the aid of an Italian journalist, who offered them a ride through the checkpoint in her car together with some other Italian journalists.

At the time, foreign journalists were allowed to pass through checkpoints virtually without inspection, so this assistance enabled the two to slip through undiscovered. It is because of this incident that Israel has since tightened the rules for foreign journalists and now insists on subjecting them to checkpoint inspections.

The Italian journalist was interrogated by the police and the Shin Bet security service, but apparently had no idea that the two were terrorists. She has since left the country. The left-wing activists with whom Sharif and Hanif spent time in Gaza have also been interrogated, and some have been deported. But they also appear to have been unaware that the two were terrorists.

Contrary to the security services' initial assessment, Hanif and Sharif apparently did not bring their bombs with them when they came from Jordan. Shortly after the attack, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz had announced that the explosives were smuggled through the Allenby Bridge crossing in a Koran.

After further investigation, however, the security services have concluded that the two probably obtained the bombs in Gaza. The scanners at the Allenby Bridge are highly sophisticated and would almost certainly have detected any explosives; it would have been much easier to get a bomb past the less sophisticated scanners at the Erez checkpoint from Gaza into Israel.

Another initial assessment that further investigation seems to have refuted is that the attack was aided by an international terrorist organization, such as Hezbollah or even Al-Qaida. The official statement released last night said merely that the security services have been unable to prove any international involvement, but the unofficial conclusion is that the bombing was apparently a homegrown production by Hamas in Gaza. The mastermind was probably Mohammed Def, who heads Hamas's military wing in the Strip.

Hanif and Sharif spent most of their time in Tel Aviv at a small hostel called Hayarkon 48 on Hayarkon Street. According to the proprietors, it may be there that they obtained the idea of making Mike's Place their target: During several days of their stay, a large poster prominently displayed on the lobby bulletin board invited hotel guests to musical evenings at the nearby pub.

The hotel's owner, Omri Gur-Lavie, said the two never aroused any suspicions in the hotel staff. "After all, they presented British passports and spoke perfect English," he said. "There was not a hint of Arabic, other than their names."

But Sharif evidently stopped seeming innocent after he discovered a problem with his explosive belt en route to the attack and decided to turn back, leaving Hanif to carry out the bombing alone.

The attack on Mike's Place will be remembered as a dismal failure on the part of the security services, which failed to detect anything suspicious either when the terrorists entered Israel or at any of their numerous border crossings between Israel and the territories. As a result of this failure, security has been tightened at the Erez checkpoint and more stringent checks are being performed on left-wing activists and Palestinians with foreign passports who try to enter Israel.