Israel admits to arrest and detention of Gaza engineer

• Published 19:21 20.03.11
• Latest update 19:21 20.03.11

 Dirar Abu Sisi, an engineer at Gaza's power plant went missing from the Ukraine nearly two weeks ago; his wife alleged that he was kidnapped by the Mossad.

By Yossi Melman


Israel admitted that they indeed arrested the Gazan engineer, Dirar Abu Sisi, who was reported to have gone missing from the Ukraine almost two weeks ago, the partial lifting of a gag order revealed.

Dirar Abu Sisi, 42, went missing in the early hours of February 19 after boarding a train in Kharkiv bound for Kiev. His wife alleged that Dirar had been kidnapped by the Mossad.

A gag order on the case was partially lifted on Thursday by Petah Tikva court judge Leah Lev-On and was only allowed to be published on Sunday. Abu Sisi was arrested as part of investigation and is currently being held by Israel, the lifting of the gag order revealed. Much of the rest of the details remain under gag order.

Lev-On wrote that publication of "details of the investigation and the circumstances surrounding the arrest" will remain under a gag order for the next 30 days.

Abu Sisi's wife Veronika hired lawyer Smadar Ben Natan to represent Dirar. Ben Natan told Haaretz that she met with his client in prison and reported that Ben Sisi is doing fine physically although he suffers from previous medical conditions.

Ben Sisi was in the Ukraine applying for citizenship when he went missing. His wife, Veronika, is Ukrainian. Veronika alleged that Israel's Mossad had abducted her husband in order to sabotage a key electric power plant in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip where he worked as a senior manager.

In Gaza, fellow engineers and neighbors described Abu Sisi as a Hamas supporter, pointing to his senior position. He served as the deputy head of the electric power station and posts are traditionally staffed by Hamas loyalists.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov recently visited Israel, where he said about the rumor that Sisi was arrested on Ukrainian soil "I don't want to imagine that such things are carried out on the soil of a friendly state."

	In this photo taken on Tuesday, March 8, 2011, Palestinian Maria, 3, holds a photo of her father Dirar Abu Sisi at the family house in Beit Lahiya, northern of Gaza Strip
	Photo by: AP

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-admits-to-arrest-and-detention-of-gaza-engineer-1.350631