26 January 2011 VOA News Israeli police say they have arrested four Palestinian men who have confessed to killing an American tourist outside Jerusalem last month.
Israel's police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Wednesday the four appeared in court for charges of stabbing the American to death. They also are charged with involvement in the killing of an Israeli woman last February in the same area near the West Bank.
Police say they arrested the four suspects within 48 hours of the American's murder.
Police say they have arrested at least nine other Palestinians from the same crime ring in connection with the two murders and other attacks.
They say one of the arrested men claimed the attacks were in retaliation for the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai last year. Dubai accused Israel's Mossad spy agency of killing the Hamas leader at a hotel in the emirate.
Israel has refused to confirm or deny that its agents were involved in the slaying.
A British-born Israeli tour guide had reported her American friend missing after the December assault. The British Israeli was found with her hands bound and suffering from stab wounds.
She told police they were attacked by two Arab-speaking men wielding a long kitchen knife while hiking in a wooded area south of Jerusalem.
The woman says she played dead while her friend was dragged away by the attackers.
Stumble It!
