Last update - 00:00 21/09/2006
PA intelligence chief: Hamas men suspected in intelligence official's murder
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent
RAMALLAH - The head of Palestinian Authority's General Intelligence, Tawfik Tirawi, said Thursday that Hamas members are suspected in the murder of Jad Tayah, a senior intelligence official killed Friday in Gaza.
Tayah, 55, was responsible for international espionage links, and his name was brought up in connection with the exposure of a Hamas cell operating in Jordan.
Tayah was murdered with five companions while driving to Gaza's Shati refugee camp.
According to Tirawi, the names of the suspects, some linked to Hamas, have been given to PA Interior Minister Said Siam and to the PA Public Prosecutor, but none have thus far been detained.
In a press conference in Ramallah, Tirawi added that the bodyguards of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh were close to Tayah at the time of the incident, and could have easily arrested the perpetrators.
He added that video cameras placed at the entrance to Haniyeh's house could have captured the incident, but had been turned off.
Tirawi called on those Gaza residents storing explosives and arms not intended for use against Israel to refrain from using them, saying the presence of such weapons in the Strip constitutes a danger.
He also pointed an accusing finger at Siam, calling him responsible for the financial chaos within the PA.
On Monday, a group calling itself Al-Qaida in Palestine announced that its members had killed Tayah. The group called him an international collaborator and promised to continue to "pursue heretics everywhere."