GAZA (Ma'an) --
The family of a senior Hamas figure reported killed in an alleged
Israeli strike in Sudan, said on Friday that the man had not in fact
been killed.
Palestinian security officials said Monday that
Abdul Latif Al-Ashqar was the target of a strike which hit a car on
Sudan's Red Sea coast near the main port killing two on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmad Karti
accused Israel of carrying out the attack.
Arab
media quoted 'Israeli sources' saying the assassination was executed by
a special unit that entered Sudanese territory from the sea and fired
on the car with a ground-to-ground missile.
Al-Ashqar's uncle,
senior Hamas figure Ismail Al-Ashqar, told Ma'an that Abdul Latif was
well, having been the subject of several Israeli assassination attempts
in the past, and been tracked by Israeli forces for many years.
Hamas
Deputy Politburo Chief Moussa Abu Marzouq, told the Jerusalem-based
daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper that the two "were not Palestinian and
had no connection to Hamas."
There were conflicting media
reports, with Sudanese media claiming both victims were nationals of the
country, while daily London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Arabiya said one
of the victims was a national of an Arab country, and said the man was
involved in arms smuggling for Hamas.
Israeli newspapers also
reported the strike, with one running the headline "IDF carried out
attack on Sudan," but the Israeli military and foreign ministry both
declined to comment.
Abdul Latif Al-Ashqar, a senior member of
Hamas’ military wing, is said to have taken over the role of weapons
gathering formerly carried out by Mahmoud Mabhouh, who was assassinated
in a Dubai hotel room last year.
In his 40s, Al-Ashqar was born
in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and was arrested by
Israel during the First Intifada.
He was a founder of Hamas' "aid
and logistics department," which coordinated weapons smuggling to the
Gaza Strip. It is not known when he arrived in Sudan, or how long he
resided there.