JERUSALEM — A man believed to be Fathi Shikaki, the founder and leader of the Islamic Jihad movement that has carried out a series of fatal attacks on Israelis, was shot to death in Malta last week, Israeli television reported Saturday.
Islamic Jihad sources in the Gaza Strip confirmed that Shikaki had been traveling from Libya to his home in Damascus, Syria, and stopped in Malta on Thursday. He never arrived in Damascus.
"If it is true, then the Mossad is to blame for the assassination," said Sheik Nafez Azzam, an Islamic Jihad follower in Gaza. The Mossad is Israel's spy agency, and it has assassinated Palestinian guerrilla leaders in the Middle East and Europe in the past. Islamic Jihad has blamed Mossad for the assassination of two of its leaders in Gaza.
Israeli security sources confirmed to Israeli reporters that Shikaki, 43, was targeted by Mossad. His organization has claimed responsibility for several suicide bombings that have killed 37 Israelis since the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel signed a peace accord in September, 1993. Islamic Jihad opposes the accord.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's office refused to comment on the reports of Shikaki's death or whether Israel might be involved. But Rabin told reporters that he would not be unhappy if the reports were true.
"Shikaki was the head of a murderous terrorist organization which murdered many civilians," Rabin said, adding that "no civilized society could bear" the existence of the Islamic Jihad leader.
The prime minister pointed out, however, that Shikaki also antagonized Palestinians with his support for Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, who recently expelled thousands of Palestinians from Libya to underscore his opposition to the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.
But Islamic Jihad members warned that they will retaliate if Shikaki was indeed killed by Israeli agents.
"Everyone will see the response of Islamic Jihad, and Israelis will pay the price," warned an Islamic Jihad follower in Gaza who spoke on condition of anonymity.
*
Islamic Jihad has refused to join the larger Muslim militant movement, Hamas, in negotiating with the Palestinian Authority on ending violent attacks against Israelis. PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat is said to be close to reaching an agreement with Hamas whereby the militant group will stop launching attacks on Israelis from Palestinian-controlled territory and will participate in upcoming Palestinian elections.
