Three Arab residents of east Jerusalem charged with murders of two Border Police officers in separate shootings

'J'lem cell suspected of killing cops'
Etgar Lefkovits , THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 24, 2008
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Three Arab residents of east Jerusalem have been charged with the murders of
two Border Police officers in separate shootings in the city this year,
police announced Wednesday.

Coming on the heels of Monday night's vehicle terror attack near Jerusalem's
Old City, the announcement served to highlight the growing phenomenon of
Jerusalem Arabs who are linked to terrorism.

The three suspects, who were arrested last month, have confessed to the
killings and reenacted them, Jerusalem Police chief Cmdr. Aharon Franco said
at a police briefing.

The three men are suspected of killing officer Rami Zuari on January 24 near
the city's Shuafat refugee camp, and officer David Shriki on July 11, near
the Lions Gate.

Two other border policemen were wounded in the shooting attacks.

A gag order which had been imposed on the case was lifted Wednesday
afternoon.

The chief suspect in the case, Muhammad Khalil Adnan Abu-Sneina, 21, of the
Anata neighborhood, allegedly set up two terror cells of three to five
members each, in both Jerusalem and Hebron, to carry out the attacks.

A search of his home uncovered three handguns, knives and electric
stun-guns.

The suspect, who had no security record, owned a market stall near Herod's
Gate in the Old City, which he used as a stakeout to plan the attacks.

Abu-Sneina's father was arrested in 1981 and sentenced to life imprisonment
for the murders of soldier Avraham Deutsch in 1978 and Yosef Moscovitch in
1979, an Israeli security official said.

He was released in 1985 as part of a prisoner exchange between Israel and
the Palestinians.

According to police, Abu-Sneina and his fellow cell members had first tried
to steal a weapon from a soldier or civilian, but after failing to do so had
pooled their money and bought a pistol in Hebron.

In the first attack, Abu-Sneina enlisted Mahmad Julani, 21, of the city's
Shuafat refugee camp, who remained in the car as a lookout, police said.
Abu-Sneina passed through the checkpoint near the neighborhood, presenting
his blue Israeli identity card to the officers on duty, only to return to
the site shortly afterwards, where he shot Zuari at close range and
seriously wounded a female officer, the indictment says.

He then snatched the officer's rifle and fled the scene in the waiting
vehicle.

Six months later, Abu-Sneina went out with the third suspect, Louis Abu
Nigma, 24, also from the Shuafat refugee camp, to carry out an attack near
the Lions Gate, but left the scene due to the heavy police presence in the
area, the charge sheet says.

According to the indictment, the two men returned to the area the next day.

After Abu Nigma verified that the area was "clean," Abu-Sneina allegedly
fatally shot Shriki and seriously wounded another officer before his gun
jammed. Shriki died less than two weeks later.

The three suspects also allegedly planned to murder a Jerusalem police
officer, who they trailed home from work, and to kidnap a security officer

They also planned to shoot at a police patrol vehicle next to Almog Junction
north of the Dead Sea, carry out a shooting attack on a bus at northern
Jerusalem's French Hill junction, and shoot at a border crossing in Hebron.

The three suspects were charged in Jerusalem District Court on September 15
with murder, attempted murder and an array of other charges, including
illegal possession of firearms and weapons trafficking.

"This is an initial closing of a circle for us," said Zion Shriki of Rishon
Lezion, David's father.

"It proves that, whoever comes to kill us, we will catch up with them and
get them," Shriki said.

Since the beginning of the year, 250 Arab residents of east Jerusalem have
been arrested by police for terror-related offenses, including firebombing
and rock-throwing, a marked increase compared to last year, Franco said.

Nevertheless, the city's police chief insisted that a third intifada was not
in progress.

One in three of Jerusalem's 750,000 residents is Arab. Unlike Palestinians
living in the West Bank, Arab residents of the city enjoy freedom of
movement throughout Israel.

"I do not see any way to limit the movement of 270,000 Arab residents of the
city," Franco said.

He added that intelligence information was the main way for police to
prevent such attacks, but noted that police had had no warnings ahead of any
of the attacks in the city this year.

News of the indictment came two days after a 19-year-old from east Jerusalem
plowed his car into a crowd at an intersection near the Old City, wounding
more than a dozen people, mainly soldiers, before being shot dead.

The time has long passed for Israel to be serious about terrorism.