Palestinians Sow Confusion and Doubt on Bombing
The head of the Palestinian Authority's intelligence service said today that a suicide bombing last week in Israel did not appear to be the work of Palestinian terrorists, but rather seemed to have been conducted by Israeli criminals against an illegal gambling club.

Israel has said the bombing was conducted by Hamas, the radical Islamic group. It reasserted that position today. "This claim is baseless," said Dr. Dore Gold, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "According to our security sources, the terrorist involved was definitely a member of Hamas who was born in the Gaza Strip."

On one level, Mr. Hendi's comments were a direct challenge to Israel's version of the bombing at Rishon le Zion, and they suggested an attempt to draw out more details from the Israelis on the results of their investigation.

More broadly, the comments underscored the state of confusion among Palestinian security forces.

"Clearly the security people are trying to deal with the pressures that are exerted on President Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, and also the fact that Palestinians are being occupied by a foreign country," said Ziyad Abu Amr, a political scientist and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. "It is a predicament."

The assignment is enough of a challenge that one of Mr. Hendi's peers, Muhammad Dahlan, head of preventive security in Gaza, openly questioned the timing of the arrests, saying it was foolish for security services to detain Palestinians when Israel might yet invade.

"Find me the logic," Mr. Dahlan said. "How can I go and arrest people, and how can I make sure that the moment I arrest them the Israelis won't come and take them, or come and kill them?"

Mr. Hendi said his conclusion that Palestinian terrorists had not conducted the bombing in Rishon le Zion was valid in part because Israel had not produced convincing evidence of Hamas involvement, and he noted that Israel had not released the bomber's name.

Dr. Gold, Mr. Sharon's adviser, suggested that the claim of Israeli criminal involvement was rooted more in Palestinian politics than in Palestinian intelligence work. He declined to release further details of the Israeli investigation, but said that in time Israel's version would prove to be true. "Israel has a reputation to maintain with intelligence services worldwide," he said. "When we make assertions in relation to terrorist attacks, they are serious."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/13/international/middleeast/13GAZA.html