BALTIMORE -- Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich says the arrest of a suspected high-ranking Hamas operative has prompted him to order more police stationed around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
The suspect, Ismael Selim Elbarasse of Virginia, was arrested last week as he videotaped the bridge. He is currently being held as a material witness in a Chicago terrorism case. He's long been suspected of having financial ties to Palestinian extremists.
Elbarasse's attorney, Stanley Cohen, told affiliate WRC-TV in Washington that the allegations are politically motivated."The allegations pertaining to Hamas are rubbish," Cohen said. "They date back to before 1997 when Hamas was not a designated terrorist organization. There was absolutely nothing new in this grand jury case in Chicago other than John Ashcroft's desperate need to win votes for George Bush."Ehrlich says the tightened security now in place should be a reminder that "there is a war going on around the world." The terror level around the bridge site is "yellow," the third highest.
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