Quote:2nd mystery 'hit'

Israeli jet flyover amid Hungary slay

By ANDY SOLTIS
Post Wire Services
Last Updated: 10:56 AM, March 19, 2010
Posted: 4:16 AM, March 19, 2010

In a possible sequel to the Dubai assassination, Israeli spy planes flew uninvited and unannounced over Budapest the same day a Syrian man was shot to death in his car, Hungarian media reported yesterday.
Two Israeli air force Gulfstream V-type jets, equipped with sophisticated intelligence gear, flew more than 1,300 miles over Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania on Wednesday before flying over eastern Budapest and then disappearing, the reports said.
The incident occurred the same day Budapest police said a 52-year-old Syrian was gunned down while stopping his black luxury car at a traffic light on the east side of the capital.



The attacker fired several shots before stealing a black briefcase from the car and fleeing on foot, authorities said.
Police have yet to identify the victim or give a motive.
The incident follows the Jan. 19 assassination of a senior Hamas official in Dubai, which United Arab Emirates police blamed on an Israeli hit team. Investigators accused Israel's Mossad spy agency of planning the hit on Mahmoud al-Mabhouh for more than a year and using dozens of bogus passports or phony identities to enter Dubai.
Hungarian Defense Minister Imre Szekeres yesterday demanded an investigation of Wednesday's overflights, which the ministry said were made without prior notification from Israel.
The MTI news agency said experts believed the planes approached Ferihegy International Airport at a low altitude before veering off. They said there was no attempt to land.
The Israeli Embassy in Budapest said the planes were on a diplomatic mission, but did not elaborate. "Of course, they were not spy planes," said Ambassador Alice Bin-Noun.
The Hungarian Foreign Ministry refused comment when asked about a possible diplomatic motive for the flights.
Over the years, Israeli operatives, including Mossad agents, have been credited with assassinating dozens of targeted Arab terrorists, often in Europe.
Some attacks occurred far from the Mideast, such as in Athens, Paris, Rome, Cannes, Norway and even Uruguay.
Aside from possible involvement in the Syrian's murder, the spy planes might have been gathering intelligence, the Hungarian newspaper Nepszabadsag said. The flying distance from Israel to Budapest is greater than to Iran, Israel's sworn enemy, it noted.
Israel has had a bitter relationship with Syria, which provides sanctuary for terrorists in Damascus and sponsors Hezbollah and other terror groups.
In September 2007, Israeli jets reportedly blew up a nuclear reactor in Syria that was being built with North Korean help.
andy.soltis@nypost.com
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/nd_mystery_hit_9oQse5yfi46JbHUmXrSy2N

Quote: Syrian murder, Israeli planes not linked - official
19 Mar 2010 12:18:22 GMT
Source: Reuters

* Israeli planes not linked to murder of Syrian * Overflight sparked suspicions of "another Dubai" hit * Hungarian defence ministry not informed of fly-over By Krisztina Than BUDAPEST, March 19 (Reuters) - Two Israeli airforce planes that made a low-level pass over Budapest this week had nothing to do with the killing of a Syrian man in the Hungarian capital on the same day, Hungarian officials said on Friday. Denying speculation that the planes were part of an undercover mission, Hungarian government spokesman Domokos Szollar said the overflight was "routine" training that was cleared in advance with Hungary by the Israelis. Hungarian police said they saw no link between the planes and the shooting of the Syrian man, and their investigation of his murder was confined to Hungary. "The Israeli airforce conducted a training operation at Ferihegy airport the day before yesterday, but it was not spying or reconaissance, merely a routine pilot manoeuvre, the so called touch-and-go," Szollar said. However, a breakdown in internal communications meant the Hungarian defence ministry was not informed, and when the planes were sighted and reported in a Hungarian daily, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai ordered an investigation. In the early morning of the day the planes flew over, Syrian-born Bassam Trache, 52, was shot dead in his car at traffic lights on the outskirts of Budapest, and a bag or briefcase was taken by the attacker, Hungarian police said. Budapest chief of criminal investigations Zsolt Bodnar, said speculation about a link was "in the realm of fiction". Hungarian authorities sent no request for information to Interpol about the case, said Richard Leyrer, Hungary's chief liaison with international police associations. "The only connection I have seen between the two cases is that they were in the news on the same day," he told reporters. In Damascus, Syrian officials had no comment. SUSPICIOUS MINDS Nevertheless, Israeli and Arab media speculated that the fly-over was part of an assassination by Israeli agents. The Yeshiva World News website asked if it were "Another Dubai?", recalling last month's sensational case when alleged Israeli agents disguised as tourists were caught on video in a Dubai hotel where a Palestinian was murdered that same day. "The report (on the Budapest planes) comes one day after the mysterious assassination of a Syrian national," Israel's mass-circulation paper Maariv said. The murder victim had dual Hungarian-Syrian citizenship, had lived in Hungary for 20 years and likely earned his living from currency exchange, police said. The daily Nepszabadsag said he was killed by several shots at close range. Two Israeli planes performing the touch-and-go were Gulfstream Vs - a modified 16-seater business jet, Hungarian media said. "They were not spy planes, of course," Israeli ambassador Aliza Bin-Noun told the Hungarian news agency MTI. An Israeli security source said he found it hard to believe Israel might have been involved. "Gunshots in the middle of a public street in Europe isn't really our style," he said. Government spokesman Szollar said Hungary's foreign ministry got a request from Israel for the operation some two months ago, and forwarded it to the National Transport Authority (NKH). The NKH gave permission for the operation, he said, but defence ministry officials appear not to have been informed. (Additional reporting by Marton Dunai in Budapest, Khaled Oweis in Damascus and Dan Williams in Jerusalem. Writing by Douglas Hamilton; editing by Jackie Cowhig)

Quote:Syrian murder, Israeli planes not linked - official 19 Mar 2010 12:18:22 GMT
Source: Reuters

(snip)

An Israeli security source said he found it hard to believe Israel might have been involved. "Gunshots in the middle of a public street in Europe isn't really our style," he said.