This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3787

Two Israelis shot by Arab terrorists in Denmark

December 31, 2008

PA Arab Terrorists Attack Israelis in Denmark, Two Wounded

Tevet 4, 5769, 31 December 08 08:11by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists attacked a group of young Israelis at a stand in a Danish mall early Wednesday evening.

Local police said the attack took place at approximately 3:20 p.m. at the Rosengirdscentret Center, one of the largest shopping centers in the city of Odense, located about 200 kilometers from Copenhagen.

According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levi, an undetermined number of Palestinian Authority gunmen approached the group of young Israelis at a "basta", or stand which sells Dead Sea products and other items from Israel and opened fire "with guns or rifles."

It was not clear how many terrorists, and how many Israelis were involved in the attack. Two Israelis were wounded, one in the leg and the other in the shoulder. "As far as we know, there is no danger to their lives," Levi said, "but we do not know their names or other details at this time."

He added that Foreign Ministry officials in Denmark are in close contact with local authorities there. Very few details of the attack were available, however, and Levi was unable to say whether the terrorists had been caught or had managed to escape. A Danish radio station said the terrorists escaped in a black Audi sedan, which police later found at a nearby college.

Levi made a point of stressing that the Israeli government believes there is a connection between this terrorist attack and the Arab world's opposition to the current military operation in Gaza.

"In the Foreign Ministry, a direct line is drawn between these assaults and the sharp anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish propaganda in the Arab national and international media since the beginning of the operation in Gaza," he said. "We don't have proof, but that is our estimation."

A number of Islamist terrorists have been discovered living in Vollsmose, a suburb of Odense in the past two years, including three former PA residents and a Danish native who became a convert to Islam. All were arrested in 2006 and convicted of plotting to carry out terrorist acts using TATP, a deadly explosive favored by suicide bombers in the Middle East.

Some 85 percent of the community is populated by Muslim immigrants, many of whom came to the country since 1980 from Iran, Iraq, Somalia and the Palestinian Authority. Estimates vary, but Muslim authorities say their population numbers approximately 300,000 in Denmark, with 115 mosques. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129152

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Palestinian arrested, charged for Denmark shooting

Thu Jan 1, 2009 8:28pm GMT
Reuters http://uk.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUKL1106249 COPENHAGEN, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Danish police on Thursday arrested a 27-year-old man of Palestinian origin on suspicion of shooting and wounding two Israeli citizens at a shopping mall in central Denmark and charged him with attempted murder.

A city court remanded the man in custody for four weeks. The Danish citizen, born in Lebanon, pleaded innocent but admitted to possession of a firearm before the judge ordered the rest of the hearing to be held behind closed doors.

A gunman on Wednesday fired several shots at two Israeli youths who worked at a hair salon in the Odense shopping mall, wounding one in the leg and the other in the arm.

The Israeli men were both still in hospital on Thursday but their injuries were not life-threatening. Police said the pair had been in Denmark for about a week.

The attack came on the fifth day of Israeli air strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, prompting speculation in Danish media of a link to developments in the Middle East.

A police spokesman told Reuters the suspect had surrendered himself to authorities early on Thursday, but that the motive for the attack was still unknown.

Chief Inspector John Jacobsen told Ritzau news agency that every motive for the crime would be investigated.

"We are following all the leads we have," he said. (Reporting by Kim McLaughlin; Editing by Louise Ireland)

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3787