Briton held by Israel as ‘terror attack’ suspect
A Briton has been arrested in Jerusalem on suspicion of having been sent by a Lebanese guerrilla group to carry out a terrorist attack, officials in Israel said yesterday.
The man, identified as Jihad Schuman, was arrested on January 5, a few days after he arrived in Israel, his Israeli lawyer Leah Tsemel said. ‘‘Jihad’’ is Arabic for holy war.
Since his arrest the man has been interrogated by Israel’s Shin Bet security service on suspicion of having been sent from Lebanon by the Hezbollah guerrilla group to carry out an attack, the office of Israel’s prime minister said.
Schuman has not been formally charged with any crime and denies all the allegations being made against him, Tsemel said.
Since Schuman’s arrest, Shin Bet has brought him to the Jerusalem magistrates court every few days to have his detention extended, but the court forbade publication of any information about the case.
Today, however, it released some of the facts, at Tsemel’s request.
Tsemel said she has complained about the way her client is being treated by his interrogators and her complaint has been passed on to Israel’s attorney general.
The magistrates ordered Schuman to be held for another eight days.
