Unknown Terrorist Group Claims Credit for Kidnapping IDF Medic

An anonymous telephone call from an unknown terrorist organization kindled hopes Monday that missing Sgt. Avi Sasportas may still be alive.

The call was received at the Jerusalem office of the French news agency Agence France-Presse at 1 p.m. local time.

Sasportas, a paratroop medic, has been the object of a massive search across southern Israel, now in its 10th day. He has been missing since Feb. 16.

The caller said Sasportas was being held by a group called the Palestine Arab Army in “the occupied territories.”

The caller said the group would spell out its demands “very soon” and would issue a video cassette of Sasportas in the next 48 hours.

According to AFP reporter Haim Sabag, the anonymous caller, who sounded like “a mature Arab man, “said the Palestine Arab Army had no connection with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Israeli authorities know of no organization called the Palestine Arab Army.

Police reacted cautiously to the anonymous call. They promised that their special team investigating the soldier’s disappearance would continue to work until it is “clear beyond any doubt that Sasportas is held by hostile elements.”

Moshe Taib, who heads the team, returned to Jerusalem to check out the call. But police sources noted that similar calls in the past proved to be false leads.

Yehudit Sasportas, sister of the missing soldier, expressed hope that this one was genuine.

Sasportas was last seen at a road junction near a military base in the Gaza Strip, trying to hitch a ride home to Ashdod.

Early in the search, his boots were found. Bedouin trackers subsequently came across traces of footprints, which they said indicated one man in stockinged feet and two wearing boots.

That supports the kidnapping theory. The abductors may have forced Sasportas to discard his boots to make it more difficult for him to escape.