Sudan identifies victims of air strike on coastal city

April 7, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government on Thursday unveiled the names of the two people killed in a car that was the target of an apparent air strike yesterday.

The attack took place in an area known as Kalaneeb which is 14 kilometers away from the coastal city of Port Sudan and on the main road leading to the regional airport.

Sudanese officials gave conflicting reports on whether the operation was carried out by fighter jets or missiles fired from the red Sea. However, Khartoum accused Israel of standing behind the attack.

The Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV said yesterday that the target of the strike was Abdel-Latif Al-Ashqar, a Palestinian commander in the Islamic militant group Hamas which controls the Gaza strip.

Al-Ashqar was described as the successor of Mahmood al-Mabhouh who was assassinated in Dubai last year by Israeli intelligence. He was responsible for coordinating weapon supplies to the militant movement which is designated as a terrorist group by many western countries.

A member of the Palestinian legislative council by the name of Ismail Al-Ashqar acknowledged the report about the target but stressed that the latter, who happens to be his nephew, escaped unharmed.

But Sudan denied that any foreigner was in the car and said that the names of the two people killed were Eissa Ahmed Hadab from Al-Amrar tribe and his personal driver Ahmed Gibreel. The foreign ministry said the Hyundai Sonata car was recently purchased by Hadab from another Sudanese citizen living in Khartoum.

Jibril was a businessmen from an Egyptian-Sudanese tribe in Red Sea state who had lived in Egypt for many years before returning to Sudan in 2009, a political activist in the region told Agence France Presse (AFP). Hadab, the car’s driver, was a fisherman and also from eastern Sudan, the activist added.

Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment on the allegations by Sudan but he complained nevertheless that the Jewish state unfairly gets the blame for many incidents that occur around the world.

“Some see Israel’s hand in anything that happens, and it is not always true,” Netanyahu said during a press conference in Berlin, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

However, Israeli intelligence sources told AFP on Thursday that a truck carrying weapons, which was being escorted by the car, had been hit in the strike. Photos from the scene only showed the car and no mention was made of a separate truck.

The Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson Khalid Moussa described the air strike as an “aggressive act” that reflect the political manner of Israel “which practices state terror against countries and people” adding that this is a blatant violation of international law principles.

Moussa stressed that this endangers regional security and added that it is a “desperate attempt” by Israel to smear Sudan’s image and link it to terrorism. He affirmed that Sudan will lodge a complaint with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

In the past U.S. and Egypt have warned Khartoum that arms smuggling to Gaza has flourished through East Sudan and they need to step up efforts to stop it.

Two years ago it was disclosed that Israel carried out an unknown number of airstrikes in early 2009 in Eastern Sudan using fighter jets against a convoy of arms that was allegedly headed to Gaza.

The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir and other officials in Khartoum at the time acknowledged that Israel was likely behind the air raids which state media reported to have killed 119 illegal immigrants who were trying to sneak into Europe.

Last month, the Egyptian media quoting army sources said that it had shelled a convoy of vehicles laden with arms near the Sudanese border. No further details were given and Khartoum has reportedly asked for clarifications from Cairo.

(ST)