by JD » Tue Nov 15, 2005 7:08 pm
Interesting how everyone has forgotten that this incident happened only one month after 9/11. What it means isn't clear to me; it certainly does raise some question marks when considered with the Odigo warnings, dancing Israelis, etc of 9/11. <br><br>To my knowledge no firm links have been established that the Israelis in question were acting in an official capacity; it is possible they were freelancers doing mercenary work or some such thing. If anyone knows what subsequently happened in this story I'd love an update.<br><br>For any doubters, I can assure you that it did happen. I saw the Mexican newspaper headlines plus the Mexican police website that confirmed the two men were arrested. I can't find active links to either of those items anymore. <br><br>The agents in question were subsequently released and the whole matter was swept under the carpet with essentially no coverage of the matter by Western Media. I thought the media silence of a significant event involving terrorism so close in time to 9/11 was perhaps even more anomolous than the event itself.<br><br>Mexico Will Investigate If Israelis Were Terrorists<br>By Alejandro Páez and Francisco Mejía<br>From Crónica de Hoy, Mexico City, <br>October 12, 2001 <br> <br>Unabridged Translation by The Narco News Bulletin <br> <br>-- They were armed with 9mm pistols, nine grenades, explosives, three detonators and 58 bullets -- They were detained by sugar industry workers in the Legislative Palace <br> <br>The Attorney General is investigating and interrogating two Israelis (one already a nationalized Mexican) who were detained in the House of Representatives Wednesday with two 9mm pistols, nine grenades, explosives, three detonators and 58 bullets, to determine if they belong to any group connected with terrorists or subversive groups. <br> <br>Salvador Gersson Smike, 34, a retired Israeli military official and nationalized Mexican, and Sar Ben Zui, 27, of Israeli nationality, were held yesterday in the installations of the metropolitan offices of the Attorney General, headed by the assistant attorney general for criminal process Gilberto Higuera Bernal. They were interrogated to clarify the source of the arms that they carried and to determine if they are guilty of a crime. <br> <br>Up until now the authorities have not declared about the status of investigation number PGR/11-15-01 and they will wait until tonight when the constitutional limit for determining the legal situation of the arrested parties expires. <br> <br>Both subjects were detained in the installations of the legislative palace of San Lazaro when a group of sugar industry workers that had met with the Speaker of the House, Beatriz Paredes, left to discuss their issues in the lobby and the two arrested persons arrived and began photographing them. <br> <br>This activity and the form in which they took the pictures (aiming their cameras below the belts of the workers) generated tension among the sugar workers who proceeded to demand their identification immediately. <br> <br>The Israelis identified themselves as press photographers, but they were not believed and the workers overcame them and then discovered that they were armed with pistols and other high caliber arms. <br> <br> <br>The Isreali Embassy Will Monitor The Arrest Of Sar Ben Zui<br>By Francisco Mejía<br>Crónica de Hoy, Mexico City, <br>October 13, 2001<br> <br>Unabridged Translation by The Narco News Bulletin <br> <br>The Isreali Embassy in Mexico has confidence that its citizen, Sar Ben Zui, will be investigated in accordance with the law and the consul, Elias Luf, is following the investigations, his spokeswoman Hila Engelhart confirmed. <br> <br>She said that the Embassy does not regulate the entrance of Israelis in Mexico and doesn't know anything about what the arrested individual was doing. She said that the citizens of that country that come to Mexico, like all others from Israel, are not required to have any special visa for their travels. <br> <br>As will be remembered, Sar Ben Zui Was detained, with another subject, when both were allegedly armed inside the House of Representatives. <br> <br>According to statements by elements of the legislative security staff, the suspects carried arms, explosives, nine grenades, bullets and a detonator. <br> <br>In a telephone conversation the spokeswoman assured that the Embassy has confidence in the Mexican institutions to do what is necessary to enforce the law. "We are waiting to find out what happened." <br> <br>She informed that the Embassy doesn't have a program to monitor Israeli citizens who come to Mexico. In any case, she said, the Mexican secretary of state should have a registry of all persons who enter national territory. <br> <br>She indicated that relations between the two countries are very good and that tourism is promoted by both countries. <br> <br>Hila Engelhart recalled that it is not the first time that Mexico has detained an Israeli citizen in its country, however, she said that it is a situation that happens everywhere. She reported that both countries collaborate constantly to monitor exceptional movements that occur and said that "in the case of the arrested Israelis, we hope the situation with be resolved quickly." <br> <br>Finally, she said that the Israeli Ambassador is monitoring the arrests.<br> <p></p><i></i>