An Assassination Plot Against Tony Blair
Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 9:36:21 am PDT
Tony Blair canceled a trip to Gaza today, after Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence service uncovered an assassination plot.
GAZA CITY (AFP) - International Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair cancelled what would have been his first trip to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday because of a security threat, his spokeswoman said.
“Unfortunately we had to cancel the visit because of a specific security threat... we had to turn back on the road,” Ruti Winterstein told AFP.
Winterstein said the former British premier was committed to visiting the impoverished Palestinian territory and hoped to schedule another trip at a later time.
Israel’s Shin Beth domestic intelligence agency warned Blair shortly before his arrival at the Gaza border that a “terror organisation” was planning to attack his motorcade, an agency official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The genocidal, murderous terrorist group Hamas says, “No way!”
But the Islamist movement Hamas, which had welcomed the visit, said it had made the appropriate security preparations and accused Israel of pressuring Blair into cancelling the trip.
“The Israeli occupation exerted great pressure to prevent Tony Blair from visiting the Gaza Strip because they did not want him to see the size of the disaster caused by the unjust blockade,” Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu said.
“The Gaza Strip is open for any visitors who want to break the blockade and see the suffering of our people,” he added in a statement.
