The GSS has announced the arrest of a Palestinian intelligence officer last week in the Negev. The officer, who was armed with a pistol at the time of his arrest, intended to kidnap an Israeli in the south of the country. PA officer Ahed Haj Ahmad Mohammad Al-Akbi, in charge of \"Bedouin Affairs\" for the PLO, told the GSS that he planned to kidnap and Israeli citizen and bring him to the PLO\'s intelligence interrogation facility in Dahariya.
Al-Akbi told his interrogators that in line with his position, he would routinely interrogate members of the Negev Bedouin community to remain abreast of affairs in that community. He also told the GSS that he was ordered to gather intelligence information dealing with Israel\'s 1996 and 1999 national elections. Al-Akbi said that in one case, a senior PA official offered a large unspecified sum of money to a candidate to persuade him to withdraw from the Knesset race to clear the way for another candidate.
Al Akbi added that he was also appointed by a senior PA figure to gather information among Israeli Arabs in connection to the elections. In addition, the same senior PA figure also started an initiative to \"convince\" a candidate for Prime Minister to drop out of the race because of the PA’s interest in the victory of a different candidate.
Al-Akbi told his interrogators that in line with his position, he would routinely interrogate members of the Negev Bedouin community to remain abreast of affairs in that community. He also told the GSS that he was ordered to gather intelligence information dealing with Israel\'s 1996 and 1999 national elections. Al-Akbi said that in one case, a senior PA official offered a large unspecified sum of money to a candidate to persuade him to withdraw from the Knesset race to clear the way for another candidate.
Al Akbi added that he was also appointed by a senior PA figure to gather information among Israeli Arabs in connection to the elections. In addition, the same senior PA figure also started an initiative to \"convince\" a candidate for Prime Minister to drop out of the race because of the PA’s interest in the victory of a different candidate.