[ 19/04/2011 - 05:32 PM ]
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Gaza Ministry of Interior and National Security has confirmed that the pursuit of dangerous suspects wanted for the murder of Italian peace activist Vittorio Arrigoni in Gaza ended after one of the men threw a grenade injuring both of his accomplices.The suspect Abdurrahman al-Bureizat, a Jordanian citizen, then opened fire on himself taking his own life.
Three Gaza security service men were moderately injured in the operation.
The suspects were identified as Mahmoud al-Salfiti, Bilal al-Omari, and Abdurrahman al-Bureizat, also known as Mohammed Hassan. Faris Abu Ghoula, one of the residents, had joined the men as they took refuge in the home west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, our correspondent said.
Gun shots echoed at the scene as the Ministry of Interior and National Security declared the area a closed security zone, the correspondent added.
He said the suspects did not obey orders by the security forces to surrender themselves, but instead fired at police injuring a policeman. One of the men fired at his father who was present to coax his son into surrender. He was however uninjured.
Sources in the Interior Ministry said the men's families were summoned in an effort to convince them to turn themselves in to the authorities, but they had not responded.
Those sources told our correspondent that security chiefs ordered that the men be taken alive in order to investigate mysteries left unanswered in the crime, including who was behind it and his motives.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
