Tony Blair Cancels Gaza Visit After Israeli Intel Uncovers Plot to Kill Him

Tony Blair Cancels Gaza Visit After Israeli Intel Uncovers Plot to Kill Him

www.foxnews.com

On Tuesday, Mideast envoy Tony Blair called off what would have been the first visit of a top Western diplomat to Hamas-ruled Gaza, after Israel's Shin Bet security service received "pinpointed and imminent" intelligence that there was going to be an assassination attempt on his life.

The Shin Bet security service said it had received "information that Palestinians were planning to attack Blair in Gaza, so the relevant services alerted him to the fact."

They say the information about the attack was "detailed and credible." Militants planned to attack Blair's convey with explosives while he was traveling in Gaza.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Very disturbing. This will do nothing to cool tensions in the ME.

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

On the flipside, it's the Palestinians that lose an opportunity to have a Westerner visit, along with press no doubt, and see what's really going on there.
It's a win situation for Israel, stalling or outright canceling any progress and talks.

So who gains from this?

reply to post by Britguy

So who gains from this

I certainly agree with you that Hamas really wanted this visit to happen, so they are off the hook. Israel of course will be happy to keep Hamas out of the political games so it is much likely suspect,especially since source of this info is Shabak.
But there are other players involved. I think that for Fatah seeing Hamas gaining more power abroad is also very problematic. So i guess that it is also a possibility.

So if it's been made public already, it wouldn't be much of a secret anymore. Why wouldn't he still go, just with more security?

Peace

reply to post by ZeroKnowledge


I could totally see it being one of those "prove that you weren't" kind of things. Palestinians, saying it is absurd, and Israel saying prove that you weren't. Well they can't prove that someone somewhere wasn't planning it. I hope that made sense.

reply to post by ZeroKnowledge


There are, indeed, other players at work in that region. As much as Islamic Fundamentalists like to use the Palestinian people as pawns to further their anti-Israeli agendas, the truth is those same organizations will never allow peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. For without it, they would lose one of their most important recruitment tools.

This should surprise no one. Had Blair been assassinated, it would have inflamed the region beyond repair.

reply to post by Britguy


I see what you mean. Hamas said they would provide security for Tony Blair, even if he refused to meet them. I'm sceptical if there was an alert because Blair stated to the UK foreign affairs committee that he wanted to meet Hamas one day (America and Israel both objected).

And, lets not forget, Blair walked the streets of the West Bank without a bullet proof vest and all militants group stayed away. If a whacko group wanted him dead, they could of shot and killed him then.

Hamas didn't give him the warning, it came from Israel. Apparently the route to the sewer plant was cleared and no one was on the streets. Plus, Blair's security force is a mixture of UK and US intelligence. None of them knew.

Most Arab nations, including Syria, support Blair because they are fully aware he can bring peace to the Middle East. As Night Watchman said; the region would turn into a bloodbath if Blair was assassinated.

[edit on 15-7-2008 by infinite]

Were I in Blair's shoes, I think I'd have stayed away too. Even though it was the Israelis who provided the intelligence, I don't think I would have risked it; the Middle East is too unstable and unpredictable.

It certainly wasn't Hamas behind this. They have nothing to gain and everything to lose even though he declined to meet with them at this point. Blair seems to be one of the few major international players in the Middle East taking a different line from the US and Israel.