INJURED PALESTINIAN TIED TO 3 SUICIDE BOMBINGS.

Byline: Serge Schmemann The New York Times

Israeli officials said Saturday that a Palestinian shot and wounded Friday in Hebron was a top Islamic guerrilla who masterminded three of the suicide bombings earlier this year.

The guerrilla was identified as Hassan Salameh, whom Israeli army spokesmen described as deputy commander of the Qassam military wing of Hamas, the militant Islamic organization. The commander, Mohammed Dief, one of the Palestinian guerrillas most wanted by Israel, is still at large.

According to Israeli army spokesmen, Salameh was captured after the van he was riding in was stopped for a search. They said Salameh bolted and soldiers shot him in the back, but he still managed to get away.

He was found soon afterward at the nearby Alia Hospital in Hebron, where other Palestinians had evidently taken him. After surgery there, he was transferred under heavy guard to an Israeli hospital. Israeli radio said security forces arrested six Palestinians on Saturday on suspicion of helping Salameh.

The broadcast said Salameh was the mastermind behind three of the four suicide bombings that killed more than 60 people and created a crisis for the Israeli government.

They said Salameh was responsible for the suicide bombings of two Jerusalem buses Feb. 25 and March 3, and of an attack on a bus stop in Ashkelon on Feb. 25. The fourth attack, in Tel Aviv on March 4, was purportedly by another group, the Islamic Holy War.

According to the army, Salameh underwent training in Sudan last year before returning to the Gaza Strip. The army said he had planned to attack settlers in Hebron on Israeli independence day, April 24, but Israeli security forces prevented him from carrying out the attack.

Israeli Radio said Salameh was riding in a van with another man, Razil Rajoub, who did not resist the search. Rajoub was described as a relative of Jibrik Rajoub, head of Palestinian security services in the West Bank.

Israeli and Palestinian security forces have sharply intensified precautions in recent weeks in anticipation of new attacks before the Israeli election May 29.

The Israeli military withdrawal from Hebron was to have been completed in March, but Prime Minister Shimon Peres postponed it until after the elections as a safeguard against clashes between the Arab population and the militant Jews who live in an enclave in the center of the city.

As an additional safeguard against trouble, Norwegian observers moved into Hebron last week.

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Photo

Photo: Hassan Salameh, described as the No. 2 leader in the military wing of Hamas, recovers in a Jerusalem hospital Saturday.

Associated Press