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| Terror Networks |
| Al-Qaeda guns in Nepal? |
| 2002-05-11 |
| Western intelligence agencies suspect that al-Qaeda is implicated in supplies of sophisticated weaponry reaching Maoist insurgents in Nepal. The rebels have previously procured weapons through the international black market, from sympathetic armed revolutionary groups in India, and by capturing rifles and ammunition when they have overrun Nepalese police outposts and army barracks. The entry of Afghan gun-runners into this supply chain would be a worrying development, especially if the source can be traced to former al-Qaeda and Taliban elements suspected of having taken refuge in the tribal territories of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. While there is little common ground between the conservative Islamic fundamentalism of the Taliban and the Maoists' revolutionary ideology, both groups have identified US-led "imperialism" as the common enemy. Interesting. If they're selling off their arms supplies they either have more than they need — and I can't imagine al-Qaeda ever admitting such a thing — or they need the money. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |