The Assassination of Sheikh Yassin: Sharon Opens the "Gatesof Hell".

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, spiritual head of the militant Palestinian group Hamas, has fallen victim to justice Israeli-style. Early in the morning as the white-haired, wheelchair-bound leader exited his local mosque after prayers, Israel's Apache helicopter gunships lay in waiting on the direct orders, and under the personal supervision, of Ariel Sharon. This high-profile extra-judicial assassination — one in the long line of many — has thrust the region into turmoil, and, far from weakening the Palestinians and their supporters, it has united them. It has also gagged the moderates and fueled the extremists.