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Last update - 17:52 05/05/2008 Militants: Gaza headmaster killed in IAF strike was Jihad rocket-maker By Reuters Tags: Israel, Islamic Jihad, Rocket  By day, Awad al-Qiq was a respected science teacher and headmaster at a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip. By night, Palestinian militants say, he built rockets for Islamic Jihad. The Israel Air Force strike that killed the 33-year-old last week also laid bare his apparent double life and embarrassed a UN agency which has long had to rebuff Israeli accusations that it has aided and abetted Palestinian militants. In interviews with Reuters, students and colleagues, as well as UN officials, denied any knowledge of Qiq's work with explosives. And his family denied he had any militant links at all, despite a profusion of Islamic Jihad posters at his home. Advertisement But militant leaders allied to the coastal strip's ruling Hamas group hailed him as a martyr who led Islamic Jihad's "engineering unit" - its bomb makers. They fired a salvo of improvised rockets into Israel in response to his death. Qiq's body was wrapped in an Islamic Jihad flag at his funeral, pictorial posters in his honor still bedeck his family home this week, and a handwritten notice posted on the metal gate at the entrance to the school declared that Qiq, "the chief leader of the engineering unit", would now find "paradise". That poster was removed soon after Reuters visited the Rafah Prep Boys School, run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees. Staff there said on Monday that UNRWA officials had told them not to discuss Qiq's activities. No one from the United Nations attended the funeral or has paid their respects to the family, relatives said, adding that Qiq's widow and five children had heard nothing about a pension. Spokesman Christopher Gunness said UNRWA, which spelled its teacher's surname al-Geeg, was looking into the matter. "We have a zero-tolerance policy towards politics and militant activities in our schools. Obviously, we are not the thought police and we cannot police people's minds," he said. He added that staff were also regularly instructed not to engage in political or militant activities of any kind. The Israel Defense Forces said the April 30 airstrike at Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, hit a workshop used for making rockets and other improvised weaponry. An Israeli intelligence source told Reuters that Qiq was involved in developing rockets and mortars. Yet Qiq, a physics graduate with eight years' experience of teaching at UNRWA schools, was also described by colleagues as a rising star in education. Relatives said he was promoted to run the school last year, with the title of deputy headmaster. Double Life The case of Awad al-Qiq highlights the complexities of life among the 1.5 million people of the Gaza Strip, where close to half voted for Hamas in 2006. Hamas militants join Islamic Jihad in campaigns of rockets and suicide bombing attacks on Israel. Qiq's high profile as both a public figure and in the secret world is unusual enough to cause considerable interest among those in Gaza who were surprised by the funeral arrangements. Israel's current blockade of the coastal strip, in response to Gaza militants' rocket attacks on Israeli border communities, has set Israel and UNRWA at odds. The agency, set up to care for Palestinian refugees, has spoken out against what it calls collective punishment of civilians. Israel has long alleged that militants use UNRWA vehicles and facilities. The United Nations has denied those charges, although some UNRWA employees have had prominent political roles in groups like Hamas - such as teacher Saeed Seyam, who was interior minister in the Hamas-led government elected in 2006. Some Western officials say the agency, as one of the biggest employers in the Gaza Strip, simply reflects the society it serves. But donors such as the United States, which fund UNRWA's work, insist on vetting procedures to ensure their cash does not reach groups they class as terrorists -- such as Islamic Jihad. While many in Gaza are open about political allegiances, the threat of the kind of Israeli action that cost him his life on April 30 meant Qiq's double role was kept very secret indeed. Surrounded by Islamic Jihad mourning posters at the family home, his sister Naima insisted: "He's only a teacher and head of the school. School was his life. He had no time to work with Islamic Jihad." Other family members nodded in agreement. At the school, a 17-year-old who gave his name as Shadi read a poster for his former teacher and said simply: "Nobody knew." At the bombed-out workshop 3 km from the school, damaged cars can be seen through now-locked gates. A 35-year-old man who gave his name as Abu Mohammed said he had found Qiq dying inside after helicopters fired a missile at the building. "He was still alive, but he died shortly after," he said. Relatives recalled with pride that Qiq had met John Ging, UNRWA's Gaza operations director. But while fellow teachers had come to pay their respects, they saw no UN representative. Qiq's sister said his wife and five children were worried by the lack of news on any pension payment: "Awad did a lot for UNRWA," she said. "The family hoped UNRWA would support them." Related articles: Two people hurt as 7 rockets slam into western Negev UN: Humanitarian aid to Gaza to be halted Mon. due to fuel shortage Rumblings of dissatisfaction Bookmark to del.icio.us   Nakba protest World Likud chief calls for cancellation of Nakba Day procession. Perfect match TA court sentences 'DNA Rapist' to 25 years in prison.   1.   School master learned a lesson 18:57  |  * BEN JABO 05/05/08   2.   UN is a cover for terrorists , it is a well known 18:59  |  TOMY 05/05/08   3.   I guess thatLibya will call for a moment of silence 19:00  |  Murray the Mongoose 05/05/08   4.   UN Sees No Palestinian Evil, Hears No Palestinian Evil, But ... 19:06  |  Lavi 05/05/08   5.   Embarrassed? Since when is the UN embarrassed 19:17  |  Gina 05/05/08   6.   Good! 19:20  |  Gina 05/05/08   7.   science teacher/would be murderer 19:28  |  Connie 05/05/08   8.   He really shouldn`t have embarrassed them by being killed 20:07  |  x-ray 05/05/08   9.   Well said Ben Jabo #1 20:16  |  Murray the Mongoose 05/05/08   10.   Welfare terror state of Gaza 20:21  |  fiona 05/05/08   11.   Back to Gaza. 20:35  |  Jean Van Daem 05/05/08   12.   Well, there you have it 20:40  |  Lev 05/05/08   13.   #1 Schoolmasyer lessons 21:15  |  jo moor 05/05/08   14.   Explains perfectly UNRWA`s involvement in smuggling kassam fuel 21:19  |  Dr. L. Brnd 05/05/08   15.   The UN has always been anti semetic 21:44  |  Adrian de Klerk 05/05/08   16.   A school headmaster! Well, of course... 23:59  |  Silvienne 05/05/08   17.   #6, Gina... 00:03  |  Silvienne 06/05/08   18.   Israel should be labeled a terrorist state again 00:08  |  Dutch 06/05/08   19.   Has anyone notice - HE TAUGHT AT UN SCHOOL 00:51  |  * BEN JABO 06/05/08   20.   #15 zionist posts here that believe this tale... 05:26  |  Silvienne 06/05/08   21.   20 Silviene, Re: your healthy mistrust of the IDF 09:47  |  Dutch 06/05/08   22.   #21, Dutch... 16:56  |  Silvienne 06/05/08   23.   Silvienne, your denial is sad! 18:20  |  DR 06/05/08   24.   #23, DR...??? 22:39  |  Silvienne 06/05/08   25.   # 105 Moron/Salvine, please use another forum to communicate.... 01:24  |  misha 07/05/08   26.   # 17 Here comes again, Salvine the Moron... 01:26  |  misha 07/05/08   27.   Misha needs glasses or binoculars... 04:50  |  Silvienne 07/05/08   28.   Silly Vain & Demented Dutch 06:23  |  * BEN JABO 07/05/08   29.   Ben Jabber & Misha The Red 06:57  |  Silvienne 07/05/08   30.   #21 Dutch - wrong again. 10:40  |  Elihu 07/05/08   31.   Silvienne #20 - Fess up 10:46  |  Elihu 07/05/08   32.   #29 Silly Vain - Sillier than usual, if that`s at all possible 13:30  |  * BEN JABO 07/05/08   33.   #27 Silly Vain to Misha 13:32  |  * BEN JABO 07/05/08   34.   Ben Jabber-learn to spell correctly... 17:54  |  Silvienne 07/05/08   35.   #34 Silly Vain - my spelling is far more accurate 22:41  |  * BEN JABO 07/05/08

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