Posted: 5/10/2004 12:04:06 PM EDT
I wonder....could some of the pali youth actually be growing a brain? Fox news story here. West Bank Teen Halts Homicide Bombing Role Monday, May 10, 2004 RAMALLAH, West Bank — A Palestinian teenager who decided against blowing himself up in Jerusalem caused panic in a West Bank (search) security office when he went for help, officials said Monday. Palestinian security officials said the young man appeared at their Ramallah (search) office late last week and stripped off his jacket — revealing an explosives vest with a detonation switch at his neck.
Fearing they were about to be blown up, five security officers scattered in all directions, shouting at the youth, who looked about 14 but was actually 18 years old. It turned out that the he wanted someone to disarm the explosives.
A short while later, an explosives expert arrived to defuse the bomb vest.
The young man, whose name was not released, told the officers he was recruited by the Islamic Jihad (search) group in Jenin and was supposed to blow himself up in Jerusalem.
On the way, though, he had second thoughts. "I kept thinking of myself, of my family, and to be honest — I don't want to die," one of the officers quoted the man as saying.
Security officials said if he had been sent back to Jenin, in the northern West Bank, he would have been arrested by the Israeli military, so the Palestinians sent him to a lockup in Jericho instead.
In 40 months of conflict, more than 450 Israelis have been killed in 112 Palestinian suicide bombings.
In recent months, militant groups have been using younger Palestinians as bombers, hoping to avoid Israeli detection.
In one recent case, a teen bomber decided not to blow himself up and was photographed at an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank as a robot removed his bomb belt.
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