Lebanese Terrorist Sentenced in Cyprus
A Lebanese member of the pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad organization was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to manslaughter in a failed attempt to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Nicosia.
Omar Ahmed Hawillo, 28, confessed he was involved in a May 11 terrorist plot with another Lebanese, Kadour Ahmed Honeim, to blow up the embassy with a car bomb.
The plan failed when police prevented Honeim, who was driving the car--loaded with 220 pounds of explosives--from parking in front of the embassy.
The bomb exploded 200 yards from the building as Honeim was driving off, killing him and a Cypriot man and woman and wounding 15 other Cypriots.
The vehicle was traced to Hawillo, and he was arrested by police less than an hour after the blast. Police found an attache case near the scene--containing a remote-control detonating device--with Hawillo’s fingerprints on it.
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