Former Mossad officer sought by Norway
Israel, International, 11/29/1997

Though the crime took place more than 24 years ago, the Norwegian authorities do not seem to have lost their intention to solve the remaining mysteries in the crime that claimed the life of an innocent waiter from Algeria and damaged the image of Israel's prestigious counter-espionage branch, better known as the Mossad.

On the night of July 21, 1973, a Mossad hit team arrived in the town of Lillehammer believing they had managed to spot a senior PLO security officer whose name had topped a hit list prepared by the Israeli government following the killing of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics in Munich. The team ambushed Ahmad Bushiki, a waiter holding a Moroccan passport, outside a movie theater and gunned him down in front of his pregnant wife, Torelle. Bushiki, it later became known, resembled Ali Hassan Salameh, commander of PLO's elite Force 17 security branch -- who was later tailed by Israeli Mossad agents until they managed to kill him in a car bomb blast in Beirut towards the end of the 1970's.

In his recent round of talks with Israeli officials, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek insisted that representatives of his country's secret service be allowed to interrogate a former Mossad agent for his role in the Lillehammer fiasco in 1973. The former agent whose interrogation might shed extra light on the assassination mystery is nobody other than Mike Harari, who was believed at the time of the murder to be the commander of the Israeli hit team in Lillehammer. Harari quit his post with the Mossad a few years later and has until three years ago been busy in conducting arms deals, worth at least US $500 million, in Latin America. Among his close associates was former Panamanian leader Manuel Norriega, currently serving a prison sentence in the US for drug trafficking.

Harari, today 70, lives in Tel Aviv and enjoys the title of a terror expert. Mossad rules prevent former officers or members from giving any interviews or testimonies about their activities within the Mossad. Only a special permit from the Israeli government can allow a former Mossad operative to give interviews or answer questions on any Mossad operations. Israel has so far showed no signs of compliance to the Norwegian request. In a brief press conference following his meeting with his Norwegian counterpart last Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy refused to say whether Israel would comply with the Norwegian request to be allowed to interrogate Mike Harari in connection with the botched Mossad operation in Norway 24 years ago.

The Norwegian state attorney requested and received authorization from his own government to reinvestigate the case. He said Harari is wanted for testimony on the involvement of the Norwegian secret service in the assassination. The Norwegian authorities are now trying to establish if there was any sort of cooperation between the secret services of both Israel and Norway in the assassination of Bushiki. A spokesman for the foreign ministry in Oslo verified that the legal request to question Harari was sent to the Norwegian embassy in Tel Aviv so that the information would be passed on to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Israel never officially claimed responsibility for the murder of Ahmad Bushiki until two years ago when former minister of communication, Shulamit Aloni, suggested in January 1996 that the Bushiki family sue Israel for compensation. In an interview she gave at the time, Aloni said: "Bushiki never was a terrorist. We killed him by mistake and therefore we ought to compensate his family provided a suit is filed through the appropriate channels."

Israeli officials, however, had admitted indirectly that their country was behind the assassination of Bushiki in Lillehammer. Late in 1995, Ariel Sharon who served as Israel's defense minister during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, said the Israeli government had followed instructions from former prime minister Golda Meir to spot PLO officials who were responsible for the Munich shooting. In an interview he gave to the BBC in November 1993, Aharon Yariv, who served as Golda Meir's advisor on terror, said it was extremely difficult for the Israeli hit team to draw any differences between Bushiki and Ali Hassan Salameh. "We never spared any effort to spot the real target but I was told that Salameh and Bushiki were so identical that one would think both were twins."

Bushiki's widow, Torelle, had told the press in late 1995 that following the role her country played in the secret talks between the PLO and Israel in Oslo and in the aftermath of the signing of interim peace accords between the two sides, she had become more hopeful that Israel would eventually admit responsibility for the murder of her husband. A compensation was later negotiated and the case was considered closed until the Norwegian foreign ministry decided to investigate how deeply involved was Mike Harari who at the time was believed to have maintained close ties with the Norwegian secret service.

Five Israeli Mossad agents were put on trial in Norway in December 1974. Sylvia Rafael and Abraham Geimer were sentenced to five years imprisonment, of which they spent 22 months and then released. After her release, Rafael got married to her Norwegian lawyer and moved to live in South Africa for some time. She was believed to be one of the three Israeli Mossad agents who were killed by PLO commandos in Larnaca, Cyprus, in the mid 1980's. Geimer returned to Israel after his release and two other accomplices, Dan Arbel and Marian Goldnikov, spent a few months in prison. They later were released and returned to Israel. Zvi Steinberg was sentenced to one year imprisonment for collecting information for a foreign government and was released after spending seven months in prison.

Previous Stories:
  Son of Shiekh Omar Abdul Rahman accuses Israel of Luxor attack   (11/24/1997)
  Israel releases 22 Palestinian prisoners   (10/27/1997)
  Mossad officer promoted and opposition anger grows as investigation begins   (10/13/1997)

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