(Updated Monday 9:30 AM) Israeli security sources are reporting that yesterday\'s suicide attack in Netanya\'s open-air market, that claimed the lives of three Israelis, was orchestrated by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) chief, Ahmad Sa\'adat. Sa\'adat, who was also responsible for carrying out the murder of Israeli Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze\'evi last October, was supposed to be in a Jericho prison under the eye of American and British wardens. However, a deal was worked out between Israeli and the Palestinian officials that allowed Sa\'adat to avoid prison, and instead work from an office in Jericho, with full freedom of movement and unrestricted communications-including the use of a telephone.
Sa\'adat was transferred to Jericho from Ramallah along with the three other PFLP terrorists responsible for Ze\'evis murder after Israel pulled backed from Yasser Arafat\'s Mukata compound towards the end of Operation Defensive Shield. Arafat had been housing Sa\'adat and the three other men along with Fuad Shubaki, the mastermind behind the Karin A arms smuggling incident.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had repeatedly demanded that Ze\'evi\'s killers be turned over to Israel to stand trial. Sharon even threatened to take the country to elections over the issue. However, the Prime Minister later backed down from his demands and sent his son Omri to negotiate the fate of the terrorists with Yasser Arafats financial adviser Mohammed Rashid, with US involvement. Through those negotiations a deal was concocted that allowed the four to remain under PLO control in Jericho.
Sa\'adat was transferred to Jericho from Ramallah along with the three other PFLP terrorists responsible for Ze\'evis murder after Israel pulled backed from Yasser Arafat\'s Mukata compound towards the end of Operation Defensive Shield. Arafat had been housing Sa\'adat and the three other men along with Fuad Shubaki, the mastermind behind the Karin A arms smuggling incident.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had repeatedly demanded that Ze\'evi\'s killers be turned over to Israel to stand trial. Sharon even threatened to take the country to elections over the issue. However, the Prime Minister later backed down from his demands and sent his son Omri to negotiate the fate of the terrorists with Yasser Arafats financial adviser Mohammed Rashid, with US involvement. Through those negotiations a deal was concocted that allowed the four to remain under PLO control in Jericho.