Al-Qaeda Fingered in LAX Attack

July 6, 2002

A senior Israeli official said Saturday that an Arab gunman's deadly rampage at Los Angeles International Airport on July Fourth had "all the hallmarks of the al-Qaeda organization."

The unnamed official, described by Agence France Presse as "close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon," said that he had "no doubt" the shooting by Egyptian immigrant Hesham Mohamed Hadayet was a "terrorist" act targeting El Al, Israel's national airline.

"The official added, however, that there was probably no link to the Palestinian conflict," the French news service reported, "but rather that it bore all the hallmarks of the al-Qaeda organization."

In separate comments late Saturday, former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Dore Gold said there is a history of Egyptian nationals like Hadayat being recruited for al-Qaeda-connected terrorist operations.

"We've seen Egyptian nationals who have been mobilized into radical Islamic groups before," Gold told WABC's John Batchelor and Paul Alexander.

"You've had the [9-11] operation in New York, the first World Trade Center attack, the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane in New York - all usually done by Egyptian jihadists or organizations," he explained.

"And, of course, since many of these organizations have operated against the government of [Egyptian] President Mubarak through Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who eventually merged with Osama bin Laden, we've seen Egyptian nationals involved in al-Qaeda," Gold said.

http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/7/6/212503