World IN BRIEF : ISRAEL : ‘Tel Aviv Strangler’ Suspect Arrested

Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip arrested a Palestinian informer and accused him of being the “Tel Aviv strangler” who killed four Jews and three Arabs in one of the country’s worst murder cases. Mohammed Halabi, 32, shouted to reporters as he was led into a Tel Aviv police station: “It’s certain! I killed them! There were some among them who were collaborators and others among them who were prostitutes.” But Israel Radio said police believe the five women and two men, strangled with nylon ropes, were killed as the result of an unrelated dispute. The bodies were found Oct. 20 in apartments in Tel Aviv and neighboring Jaffa. A government spokesman confirmed that Halabi had worked for Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency.