Al Jazeera bureau chief worked for Hamas

Samer Allawi, the former Afghanistan bureau chief for al-Jazeera confessed to conspiring in Hamas operations. In a deal reached with Israel's State prosecutor, he received a suspended sentence of 3 years and recognized for time already served behind bars since his arrest in August, as he sought to leave via the Allenby Bridge crossing for Jordan. Allawi told Shin Bet investigators he was recruited to Hamas in 1993 and served in a senior committee responsible for Hamas operations abroad, and fundraising until 2004. In 2001 and 2003 he traveled to Damascus Syria and met with senior Hamas officials Mousa Abu Marzouk and Khaled Mashaal and reported on his activities. He told investigators in 2000 he attended a meeting in Saudi Arabia where he agreed to participate in a terror attack on behalf of Hamas and also agreed to using his position as a reporter to promote Hamas interests. He also admitted to being a member of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan between 1988 to 1992 and said he participated in raids on a local military base and operations against Soviet forces.