Nahro Massoud, a Hamas official who was released from an Egyptian
prison in 2007 to the chagrin of the Palestinian Authority, was
arrested in Syria in connection with the assassination of fellow Hamas
terror chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the British
Guardian newspaper reported overnight
Wednesday.
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According to the report, Palestinian sources confirmed that Massoud was being detained and questioned in Syria.
Allegations of his arrest and detention have been denied by Hamas
leader Khaled Mashaal, the paper added. He was quoted in the report as
saying, “It is not correct at all.”
The PA in past years accused Massoud of being behind the assassination
of Col. Muhammad al-Musat, commander of the PA's Military Intelligence
Force in the northern Gaza Strip.
Massoud was also wanted by Israel for his role in a series of terror
attacks. Two of his brothers, Khaled and Tito, who were also members of
Hamas, were killed by the IDF.
The
Guardian report quoted a colleague of Mabhouh as saying that
“Mabhouh played a key role in supplying the Palestinian people with
weapons and money. His central role in the 2008-2009 Gaza war was
clear, he supplied Palestinian fighters with special weapons, he was an
important figure for our military."