Police nab three suspects; Tel Aviv terror alert lowered
Jerursalem Post Staff – December 31, 2003 Tel Aviv police chief Cmdr. Yossi Sedbon told Israel TV that the terror alert for Tel-Aviv has been cancelled following the capture of two Palestinians and one Israeli Arab in the city early Wednesday evening. "The alert is cancelled, we are back to normal," Sedbon said.
Sedbon added however that 'normal' would still mean an increased Police presence around entertainmnet venues in the city for New Year's celebrations.
Sedbon said Police were alerted to the danger by the Shin Bet, which led to quick police action, including roadblocks, searches and helicopter patrols. "We caught the people we were looking for," Sedbon said, but would not be drawn on further details of the incident – including if any explosive devices were found.
The level of public edginess was evident when a bus blew a tire on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv at 3:40 p.m., sending the city into a near-panic and triggering special radio station broadcasts in a terror attack mode.
Not long after that false alarm though, a Subaro utility van was trapped in Chelnov street, near the Tel Aviv central bus station after a chase.
Two Palestinians and an Israeli Arab were found inside. Army Radio reported that the three were unarmed and were not carrying explosives.
The three were interrogated on the spot, and security forces are continuing to sweep the area, hoping to find explosives that may have been thrown out of the car during the chase.
A state of alert was called earlier Wednesday afternoon for the Sharon and Gush Dan region based on intelligence reports that suicide bombers may be aiming to carry out a large-scale terror attack in the coming hours.
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Israel's security establishment has registered over fifty terror alerts this week as the Islamic Jihad vowed to avenge the death of one of its senior commanders who was killed along with four other Palestinians in an IAF rocket attack on his car last Thursday, and Hamas vowed a "painful response" for the IAF's failed rocket attack on Hamas terrorists in Gaza City Tuesday night.
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