COUSIN OF SUICIDE BOMBER: "WE ARE PROUD OF HIM"
Palestinian school teacher, others celebrate
[Edited from AP]
NABLUS, West Bank – The suicide bomber who blew himself up on an Egged bus in Haifa today was a 21-year-old plumber who had gotten engaged six weeks ago, his father said.
Muhiy Habashi, 65, a municipal worker in Nablus, got word of his son's death after he returned home from prayers to mark the holy month of Ramadan. Hundreds of Palestinians filled Habashi's home and spilled out into the street, most coming to offer their congratulations.
"We are proud of him, you should be proud of him," said Habashi's cousin Adel, 45, a school teacher.
QUOTE
"This is the deepest evil imaginable. To attack young people and children, and then to attack rescue personnel – this is the lowest form of humanity that can be imagined." – Gen, Anthony Zinni, U.S. special envoy.
PALESTINIAN TERRORISTS KILL PROFESSOR
Israeli killed as vehicles attacked
Jerusalem
December 3, 2001
Prof. Baruch Singer, a scientist from the Nahal Sorek nuclear research site in central Israel, has been shot dead by two Palestinian terrorists dressed in IDF fatigues as he drove between Elei Sinai and Nisanit in the northern Gaza Strip.
"WE ARE PROUD OF HIM"
Palestinians on suicide bomber: 'We are proud of him'
By Mohammed Daraghmeh,
The Associated Press
NABLUS, West Bank – The suicide bomber who blew himself up on an Egged bus in Haifa today was a 21-year-old plumber who had gotten engaged six weeks ago and was preparing for his wedding, his stunned father said.
Muhiy Habashi, 65, said he had no idea his son, Maher, had been recruited by the Islamic militant group Hamas. One of the assailant's younger brothers broke down in tears and had to be restrained while his mother sat in a room surrounded by grieving women, clinging to one of her four daughters.
Outside, Hamas members fired in the air in celebration.
Maher Habashi boarded a bus in Haifa around noon today, paid the fare of five shekels and within seconds set off the nail-studded explosives strapped to his body.
The blast killed Habashi and 15 bus passengers and bystanders, police said. About 40 people were wounded.
The elder Habashi, a municipal worker in Nablus, got word of his son's death after he returned home from evening prayers to join the family for the sundown meal that breaks the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
Habashi was stunned as neighbors and friends came to congratulate him. "He got engaged one-and-a-half months ago and we were getting ready for his wedding," Habashi said, crying and holding on to relatives for support.
Hundreds of Palestinians filled Habashi's home and spilled out into the street, most coming to offer their congratulations and others, their sympathies.
"Everybody feels bad when they lose their son," said Habashi's cousin Adel, 45, a school teacher. "But we are proud of him, you should be proud of him," he said to Habashi.