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| Israel-Palestine |
| Israel, Paleos fear al-Qaeda infiltration |
| 2005-09-16 |
| Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Thursday said they fear Al Qaeda terrorists will infiltrate into Gaza through the open Gaza-Egypt border, where Palestinians and Egyptians have been crossing largely unfettered since Israel withdrew from the area four days ago. In a deal worked out with Israel, Egypt is supposed to deploy 750 border troops to secure the frontier and prevent weapons smuggling, but neither those troops nor Palestinian policemen have been able to halt the flow of people and arms, including hundreds of assault rifles and pistols. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said the chaos at the border had been brought under control to a âvery high degree.â But it appeared most of the Egyptian forces had not yet deployed. A trickle of people were still crossing the border Thursday, though the numbers had dropped from previous days when swarms moved freely across the frontier. Some Gazans were parking their cars along the border wall and filling them with smuggled cigarettes and gasoline. Israel fears international terrorists will exploit the chaotic border to infiltrate Gaza and Israel. âWeâre talking about Iran, weâre talking elements in Syria, weâre talking about groups like Hezbollah and weâre talking also about international terrorist groups like Al Qaeda,â said Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev. Israel has long accused both Iran and Syria of sponsoring militant groups. Rafiq Husseini, a top Abbas aide, said, âwe are even more worried than Israel about Al Qaeda coming here because Al Qaeda will harm us more than Israel.â Such a presence, he said, would hurt prospects for peace and renewed negotiations with Israel. âThe Palestinian Authority security apparatus will arrest any suspected Al Qaeda members or other terrorist groups if they infiltrate Gaza,â he said. Islamic militant groups, some claiming connections with al Qaeda, have been active in northern Egypt but there has been no indication theyâve infiltrated Gaza, which until this week has been tightly sealed. Its operatives are prime suspects in a triple bombing that killed at least 64 people in July at Egyptâs popular Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik on the southern tip of the Sinai. That attack came 10 months after bombings at two other Sinai resorts near the Israeli border, Taba and Ras Shitan, killed more than 30 people. Senior Israeli military officials said they feared Al Qaeda operatives could enter Gaza from Sinai and connect with the local Hamas militant group to share expertise and provide weapons. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 Hamas might welcome AlQ at first but within a few months they would be competitors. Al-Q would likely have a social agenda (more dark tent clothes for women, no beer for men) that would eventually cause friction. |
| Posted by: mhw 2005-09-16 15:17 |
| #1 Rafiq Husseini, a top Abbas aide, said, âwe are even more worried than Israel about Al Qaeda coming here because Al Qaeda will harm us more than Israel.â Such a presence, he said, would hurt prospects for peace and renewed negotiations with Israel. And even more importantly, the money tree would wither under US pressure. They'd still get funds from their "brother Muslims," but if they let AQ run loose . . . seems like we had a little dust-up a few years back with a government that did just that. |
| Posted by: James 2005-09-16 12:28 |