Israel kills Islamic Jihad man behind foiled bombing

[oberliner]

JENIN, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli undercover forces killed an Islamic Jihad commander on Wednesday, a day after a Palestinian suicide bomber he had sent to Israel was apprehended near Tel Aviv.

Witnesses said Israeli forces in civilian clothing sprayed Mahmoud Abu al-Jahim's car with bullets in the city of Jenin, a militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank.

Islamic Jihad identified Jahim as its top commander in the northern West Bank and vowed to avenge what it called an Israeli assassination. An Israeli colonel who led the operation said his men had intended to arrest Jahim.

"He was carrying an M-16 (assault rifle) and fired in the air when he felt something suspicious going on. He then pointed his weapon at the forces and was shot dead," Colonel Hertzi Halevy told Reuters in a telephone interview.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070221/wl_nm/palestinians_violence_dc_1