Deputy Attorney General E. Dubois said today that an international warrant has been issued for the arrest of Hassan Ben Joudat, a 29-year-old former Moroccan officer who is believed to have shot Israeli Embassy official Zadok Offir, in a downtown Brussels restaurant Sunday night. Offir, who is in a serious condition at St. Pierre Hospital, was too weak to answer the questions of Belgian police officers and an investigating magistrate who visited him today.
Dubois told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that most of the eye-witnesses to the shooting identified Joudat as the man who fired four shots at the 42-year-old Israeli. He said Belgian police have a full description and have been ordered to be on the look-out for Joudat. Intensive searches were carried out today among Arab circles in Belgium. But officials here fear that Joudat may have fled the country. Dubois said that if this turned out to be the case, Belgium would do everything in its power to secure his extradition.
Dubois said, “We have certain evidence pointing to the fact that the two men (Offir and Joudat) were acquainted with each other.” Other Belgian officials and the local press claimed that the Israeli knew his assailant. The Israeli Embassy would not comment on this. Offir was on duty at the Embassy over the Rosh Hashana week-end when he was reportedly lured to the restaurant by a telephone caller who claimed to have information about terrorist plans to attack Israeli installations in Brussels.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
