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Why al-Qaeda targets Italy
Al Qaida really has it in for Silvio Berlusconi. As the target of terrorist threats, the Italian prime minister ranks second in frequency only to President George W. Bush. On Friday, al Qaida again had Berlusconi in its sights. A message on the Ansarnet website that carries extremist Islamic content warned that unless Berlusconi was removed from office there would be terrorist attacks against Italy."Either you dump the incompetent Berlusconi or we will really burn Italy," the message said. "We are in Italy. None of you is safe." The message was signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade, an al Qaida affiliate which most recently claimed responsibility for the Madrid train bombings last March in which 190 commuters lost their lives and thousands were injured. The group is named after an al Qaida leader who was killed in Afghanistan in a clash with U.S. forces. The al Qaida warning came two days after the expiry of a three-month truce declared unilaterally on April 15 by Osama bin Laden. In a taped message - pronounced authentic by CIA experts at the time -- bin Laden had said al Qaida would suspend operations against targets in Europe to give European members of the U.S.-led coalition enough time to pull their troops out of Iraq. Friday's website threat was seen as the resumption of terrorist "hostilities" against any country that still has its armed forces deployed in Iraq. Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-07-19 |
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