A 25-year-old Gaza woman and two men she allegedly recruited to murder Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon were formally charged before a military tribunal in Gaza today. According to Israeli intelligence sources which uncovered the plot, the woman, Soad el-Bahissi, was the link between a terrorist organization and the hired assassins.
She is accused of employing Saleh Jamil el-Bahissi, 21, a relative, and Ottoman Ibrahim Mubarek, 23, to infiltrate Sharon’s farm in the south of Israel and carry out the murder mission. The two men, also residents of the Gaza Strip, allegedly joined the terrorist group and went to Amman, Jordan to train in handling explosives. They were ordered to shoot Sharon with a pistol purchased for 100 Jordanian Dinars.
The trio also has been charged with an attempt to plant a bomb in a local movie house in Kiryat Malachior, alternatively in Ashdod, last July or August. Five witnesses are expected to testify for the prosecution when that case is heard next month.
Meanwhile, the Gaza military tribunal is hearing evidence against Abdallah Ayash, 23, of Raffah who has been charged with the murder of an Israeli soldier, David Shamir on Jan. 29, 1979. Ayash allegedly shot the hitchhiking soldier after offering him a ride.
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