Suspected al-Qaida men from Nablus indicted in IDF court

Two youths allegedly planned to execute double attack, including a suicide bomber and a car bomb in Jerusalem.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Two men in their twenties from Nablus were indicted for terror-related crimes by an IDF military court Sunday after the prosecution alleged that the two were hired by the Jordanian branch of al-Qaida to perform terrorist acts in Israel. Their trial is to begin next month. The two, Azzam abu el Adas and Bilal Hasnawi were arrested three months ago at the Allenby Bridge connecting between Jordan and the West Bank near Jericho, Israel Radio reported. The planned terrorist attack, according to the indictment, was to take place at the French Hill in northern Jerusalem, and was to include both a car bomb and a suicide bomber. The car bomb was planned to explode in a road just outside a local restaurant. Once the explosion occurred, the other terrorist was expected to blow himself up inside the same restaurant. Adas and Hasnawi allegedly demanded 5,000 Jordanian Dinars from their al-Qaida handler for the preparations, including renting an apartment in Jerusalem that would house the suicide bomber before the attack. Abu-Kuadma, the al-Qaida representative, said he would look into the matter, and asked them to recruit educated people "like Osama bin-Laden," who may serve as suicide bombers. The two Palestinians were also suspected of planning suicide bombings in the old Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv and in Bat Yam.