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| Israel-Palestine |
| IDF skeptical al-Qaeda in Gaza |
| 2005-08-04 |
| The Israel Defense Forces expressed serious doubts Wednesday about the veracity of an Israeli media report that Al-Qaida has established a presence in the Gaza Strip. IDF sources said the report was not believable and that the ostensible Al-Qaida activity - firing mortar shells - does not reflect the organization's regular field of interest. Nevertheless, the sources said there could be a local Islamic organization in the Strip with loose connections to some kind of international jihad group. In recent years, security forces have uncovered a number of attempts to establish Al-Qaida-affiliated groups in the West Bank and Gaza. In June 2000 the Shin Bet security service arrested Nabil Ukal, a Palestinian resident of the Gaza Strip, who was convicted of attempting to create an Al-Qaida network in the territories. Ukal attended Islamic extremist trainng camps in Afghanistan, and was in contact with Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, whom the IDF assassinated in 2004. Two years ago a Palestinian with Canadian citizenship was arrested on suspcicion of having been sent by an international jihad group to Israel and the territories to carry out terror attacks. Israeli intelligence officials say Al-Qaida has been trying to gain access to the country for a long time, but there is little evidence of any such efforts. In addition, it appears that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are afraid of being identified with Al-Qaida head Osama bin Laden's struggle. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 actually, DMFD, another faction vying for power is a GOOD thing. Better to fight each other than Israel. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2005-08-04 20:20 |
| #1 Between Fatah, Islamic Jihad, Hamass, and Hiz-ebola, if Al Qaeda WAS in Gaza - what possible difference would it make. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2005-08-04 20:04 |