REINE, Israel, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Police and the Shin Bet have arrested two Israeli Arabs from Reine, Israel, for allegedly forming a terror cell funded and assisted by the Hezbollah.
The suspects Ghassam Atmallah, 40 and his brother Sirhan, 25, are members of the Balad political party, the Jerusalem Post reported Sunday.
The Hezbollah link was established by Ibrahim Ajawa, a Jordanian and head of the Abu Mussa Fatah faction who said in early 2003, Ghassam sent his brother Sirhan to meet with Hezbollah operatives in Turkey and from there to undergo military training, the Post said.
Sirhan allegedly underwent 10 days of intensive military training in making bombs.
The head of the Balad party, MK Azmi Bishara, told the Yediot Ahronot Web site Ynet that he found it difficult to believe that the party activists were involved in creating a terror cell.
"This is the first time in the history of Balad that an indictment was filed against one of its members," Bishara said. "Even if it turns out that the charges are true, it is an individual act that does not reflect upon the movement."
