The FBI will help Palestinian police investigate the terrorist attack in the Gaza Strip last Sunday in which an American was killed.
“We’re very concerned, obviously, and outraged that an American citizen was killed and three American citizens wounded in this attacks, and we think it’s appropriate for the FBI to be involved,” State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns told reporters Wednesday.
Alisa Flatow, a 20-year-old New Jersey resident who died in the bombing, was on leave from Brandeis University to study in Israel for a semester.
If the investigation leads to any arrests, the suspects could be brought to the United States to stand trial Burns said.
The 1986 Long Arm Statute gives American courts jurisdiction over terrorist crimes committed against American citizens abroad. In addition to Flatow’s death, two other Americans traveling with Flatow were hurt in the bombings.
“We’ve obviously got to see if it’s going to be possible to find the people who perpetrated the two bombings on Sunday,” Burns said, refusing to predict whether any American trials were in order.
At a briefing with reporters, Burns denounced recent statements by Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat that Israelis were selling weapons to Palestinians living in Gaza.
“If anybody has an interest in security in Gaza, it’s not only the Palestinians, it’s the Israelis,” Burns said.
“I cannot imagine that (the Israelis) would in any way, shape or form be involved.”
“I think it’s a ludicrous story,” he added.
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