The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 14

14 The Guardian Tuesday February 13 2001 International news LBDd tar lbD(d! itd nofi Turkey jails spy and ex-police chief for running hit squad Israelis fire on Palestinian bus in reprisal for settler's murder Suzanne Goldenberg in al-Khader, West Bank Israeli soldiers shot through the rear window of a Palestinian bus yesterday morning, killing a labourer in what appeared to be a random act of violence. Ziad Abu Swayyeh, 20, was shot through the back when Israeli troops fired on the bus he was travelling in. They were apparently trying to avenge the killing of a Jewish settler by Palestinian snipers on the same road, barely 10 hours earlier. The twin killings along Route 60, the road that cuts south from Jerusalem through the stony hills of the West Bank to the Jewish settlement blocks, looked certain to feed the renewed violence triggered by last week's election of the hardline Ariel Sharon as Israel's prime minister. With the toll in the four-month uprising approaching 400 dead, mainly Palestinians, both sides yesterday seemed determined to intensify the violence.

As night fell, Israeli troops fired tank shells and machine-guns at the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. At least 30 people suffered bullet injuries, or were hit by shrapnel in a 90-minute firefight between Palestinian gunmen and troops guarding the Jewish settlement of Gush Katif, Palestinian human rights workers said. The day of blood and retribution began at 6.30am when the driver of Abu Swayych's bus, Ahmed Zaoul, was easing off the paved road and around a huge mound of earth and concrete blocks piled up by Israeli army bulldozers at the entrance to Route 60 from al-Khader. He was turned back by Israeli soldiers. As the bus, carrying 16 passengers, returned to al-Khader, shots shattered its rear window, killing Abu Swayyeh, who was standing beside the driver, and hitting another man in the commit crimes of their own.

The Susurluk report aired allegations that the Turkish secret service, Mit, took part in a failed coup attempt against President Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan in 1995, and in an abortive alliance with Israel's Mossad to try to kill the Kurdish rebel leader. Abdullah Ocalan, while he was in Syria. Now, four years after the car crash, some of those involved are being made to take the blame. But critics believe that others including politicians are being allowed to go free. "This verdict only says there was a gang," Sema Piskinsut, a deputy who served on a committee investigating links between the underworld and the state, said.

"But what did it do, who did it work for? Parliament should find out who was politically iesponsible." The Susurluk Affair was significant because it sparked genuine fears among ordinary Turks that gangs within the state had been given unfettered control, and could be a threat to democracy. Suspicion of what Turks call "deep state links" is still extremely strong. The end of the trial comes amid fears of a renewed effort to destabilise the south-east, which is now enjoying its most peaceful period for years. Two leading members of the pro-Kurdish political party, Hadep, disappeared late last month in Silopi after being asked to visit the local gendarmerie headquarters. Even though the Kurdish rebel movement, the PKK, has largely withdrawn from the south-east, many believe that powerful forces in Turkey still have an interest in maintaining a tight security blanket across the region.

The south-east is the hub of a massive smuggling business involving drugs and human migrants. The hugely profitable trade is run by powerful criminal gangs, with the backing of renegade elements within the state exactly the same combination which sparked the Susurluk scandal in the first place. Chris Morris in Istanbul A court in Turkey yesterday jailed aformer police chief and a leading intelligence agent for six years each for their part in a complex conspiracy which linked senior state officials to political murders carried out by criminal gangs. The former head of police special forces, Ibrahim Sahin, and a senior intelligence agent, Korkut Eken, were both found guilty of forming and running a criminal gang with the aim of "creating panic in Eleven others were also found guilty of lesser offences after a long trial and were jailed for four years each. The Turkish public has long been convinced that there was a clear link between the state and the nationalist mafia, but these are the first convictions arising from the scandal in the wake of a car crash in the western town of Susurluk in November 1996.

The crash killed a senior police officer, a gangster and a former beauty queen. An MP who was also in the car and who works closely with the security forces in mainly Kurdish south-eastern Turkey survived. Incriminating documents and weapons found in the wreckage soon forced the interior minister to resign. What followed was an unprecedented campaign of public protest against corruption and abuse of power in high places. The official report into what became known as the Susurluk affair painted a murky picture of state security agencies using nationalist criminal gangs to kill their political opponents.

Among those killed were left-wing journalists and Kurdish activists. In return, the gangs were allowed to smuggle drugs and run extortion operations, laundering many of the profits through a chain of casinos. Elements within the police and the intelligence agencies also used the extensive powers given to them in the fight against Kurdish rebels to Fatah movement yesterday claiming Sasson's killing and renewing threats to step up attacks on Jewish settlements. "The Sharon era will not be stable and secure.as the criminal promised," a Fatah leaflet said. "Our goal is to bring down Sharon and all his settlements." In the gunfights that raged overnight across the West Bank, Palestinian snipers fired on Gilo, south of Jerusalem, for the first time since December 6, when church leaders and Mr Arafat got them to stop.

Officially, there have been no orders to resume hostilities against Gilo, said Kamal Hmeid, Fatah commander of the Bethlehem district who helped to broker the ceasefire. "It is still forbidden, but after Sharon's election there is reaction from people and we cannot stop them," he said. Israel was also in no mood to back down yesterday. The outgoing prime minister, Ehud Barak, told army commanders to "do what needs to be done" to protect Jewish civilians. Though Mr Sharon has yet to take charge, a senior member of his Likud party said the new government would use even greater force against Arab gunmen.

"They should know that we have means that we still have not used," Moshe Arens told Israel radio. Last night Israelis and Palestinians were bracing for more bloodshed along Route 60. An Israeli armoured personnel carrier trained its machine-gun on al-Khader, and troops fanned along the electrified gates of Jewish settlements. Across the fields and barren vinyards, Palestinians filed home from work on foot as the Israeli army bans their travel by private cars. Jewish settlers lined up outside their enclaves to stone passing Palestinian taxis and buses.

Israel's attorney general has asked the supreme court to reject outright a petition that is seeking a ban on state-sanctioned assassinations of Palestinian leaders. Palestinians carry the body of Ziad Abu Swayyeh while, below, Aliza Sasson hugs her son Photographs: Elizabeth Dalziel and Yossi ZamirReuters head. "He rode my bus every day," Mr Zaoul said of the dead man. "This must have been a message from Sharon to the Palestinians. One Israeli was killed and so this morning they have taken their revenge." A few hours later, a column of Palestinian women with groceries and small children tried to cross the barricade on foot, but scattered when a soldier pointed his gun at them.

Thousands of mourners followed Abu Swayyeh's body in a traditional martyr's burial yesterday. But he was a simple labourer, not a member of a Fatah militia, and so when his family returned to their village of Artas, they sat alone, waiting to receive condolences from the Palestinian Authority that never arrived. At about the same time, and a few miles to the south, looking for a place that would be good for the children, where they could feel more free," said Sharon Green, the settlement secretary. She looked down in the valley to the Jewish settlement of Beitar, Abu Swayyeh's destination yesterday. He had been working there for six months as a builder, earning 100 shekels a day (about 16.50).

There will be more acts of retribution, with Yasser Arafat's mourners were gathering at Rosh Tsurim, part of the large Gush Etzion settlement, for the funeral forTsahi Sasson. An electrical engineer, 35, Sasson was shot dead as he passed the Jewish settlement of Gilo on his way home from his job in Jerusalem on Sunday night. He was a relative newcomer to the settlement, renting a home with his wife and two sons two years ago. "He was 11am -Cafe Bleu 12.30pm -Old Red Lion 1 Frog Trumpet i jC 0 I i 3pm The Cellar Bar 4.30pm The Ship 6.30pm Nag's Head S3 I I a.