London journalists point to different Tel Aviv bombing scenarios

2nd June 2003

 
Following the disclosure by Israeli security police that the body found off a Tel Aviv beach was of one of the two alleged suicide bombers, The Muslim News (30 May 2003) reports inconsistencies in the police statements. "Israeli forces had primarily claimed that Sharif's passport was left behind with his jacket as he struggled free from pedestrians when his bomb failed to detonate. That claim was changed when the Israelis claimed both men had left their passports in their shared hotel room....if, as Israeli police claim, Palestinians killed him, why dump his body 500 yards from the beach? Why not weigh the body down? Why not bury his body?". Veteran Muslim journalist Ahmad Irfan writing in Impact (May 2003) raises similar questions and offers this scenario: "The death of Omar Sharif raised a serious question about the truth of the drama itself. He must have been savagely tortured before his mutilated body was thrown into the sea, but apparently, not immediately. So where had it been kept, why and who by? ....It is highly likely that either an explosive device had been planted on Mohammed Hanif or an explosion had been timed to take place as they approached the bar. Apparently, no one had tried to stop them and strangely Hanif did explode himself inside the place. Unless it was a case of stolen identity, Hanif had died on the spot, but Sharif had not. He should have, even if his own 'bomb' did not go off. Which means that Sharif happened to be some distance from Hanif when the explosion took place and, more importantly, neither was a 'suicide-bomber'....It does not stand to reason that Sharif had escaped anywhere. There was nowhere to hide, and the Israelis could not let him escape and tell the truth. Sharif must have been taken into custody almost immediately, otherwise how did they get hold of his passport and flash it all over?"

The Muslim News www.muslimnews.co.uk
Impact International www.impact-magazine.com