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A founder of Hamas is poet and doctorBy Associated Press© St. Petersburg Times published June 11, 2003 JERUSALEM - For more than a decade, Abdel Aziz Rantisi - a doctor and sometime poet - has been the most recognizable voice of Hamas. The 55-year-old pediatrician, who was wounded in an Israeli missile strike Tuesday, has issued fiery calls for deadly attacks on Israelis and is an outspoken critic of any Hamas cease-fire. In 1987, Rantisi was one of six men who founded Hamas, which became one of the region's largest militant Islamic groups. Its ideology calls for a Muslim Middle East without an independent Jewish state - Israel. Hamas pioneered suicide bombings in Israel in the early 1990s. Over the past 32 months, the group has killed hundreds of Israelis with suicide bombings, remote-controlled bombs and rifle attacks. After the founding of Hamas, Rantisi was the first of the group's leaders to be arrested by Israel. In and out of Israeli custody several times, he spent more than seven years behind bars altogether. During one confinement, he shared a cell with Hamas' spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin and memorized the Koran. Hamas considers Rantisi a political leader. But Israeli security sources say he sets the policy of operations against Israel and is responsible for recruiting Arab Israelis for attacks. An Israeli government spokesman said Rantisi masterminded an attack Sunday that killed four Israeli soldiers.  © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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