Jerusalem, 21 February 2001
Details of Arrest of Jihad Shuman
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Following complex intelligence activity by the Israel Security
Agency, ISA (formerly known as the GSS), aided by the Israel
Police (Jerusalem District), Jihad Aya Latif Shuman - a Shi'ite
Lebanese citizen, born in 1969 - was recently arrested.
Jihad Shuman entered Israel on December 31, 2001 on a British
passport and subsequently lodged at the Novotel Hotel in eastern
Jerusalem. He later moved to Jerusalem's Dan Panorama Hotel. On
January 5, 2001, he was arrested in central Jerusalem under the
alias of Gerard Shuman.
A search of his possessions turned up the following: A kippah, a
timer, tourist maps of the Jerusalem area, a large sum of money,
a video camera, two disposable cameras, and several cellular
phones that he had purchased in Israel.
Jihad Shuman was handed over to the ISA for investigation. During
his investigation, the following details became known: That he
was Shi'ite, a Lebanese citizen, and a graduate of the American
University in Beirut's computer studies program.
In the context of the briefing he received before being
dispatched, he was told to leave Lebanon on his Lebanese passport
and go to the United Kingdom where he was to leave his Lebanese
passport in a hidden drop in a public place (where it would be
collected by a third party). He was directed to fictitiously rent
an apartment and a voice mail box in London, and purchase a
cellular phone. Additionally, he was directed to go to a travel
agency that enables plane tickets to be purchased with cash.
Before arriving in Israel, he was briefed by his operator to
speak only English and deny his Arab identity so as not to arouse
suspicion. Jihad was directed to memorize a drop in Wadi Joz
(between Mt. Scopus and the Old City) where certain objects were
concealed. Upon arriving in Israel, he went to the drop and began
digging in order to retrieve the objects.
Jihad Shuman has confessed that he phoned his operators in
Lebanon on a regular basis in order to update them. He was
detained for investigation before he could complete his mission.
From his investigation and other information in the hands of the
ISA, it has become known that he is a Hizbullah activist from
Lebanon who arrived to perpetrate terrorist missions and attacks
inside Israel.
Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, on Monday,
February 19, 2001, signed a six-month administrative detention
order against Jihad Shuman.