Urgent consultations in European and Arab capitals and Jerusalem are reported by DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources over the threatened targets published by Al Qaeda’s Gaza cell – the Army of Jihad - dated Feb. 16. Not only must "non-Muslim foreigners of all nationalities" leave, but "foreign embassies and consulates must be evacuated and their staff leave within one month of this warning."Our sources report that the al Qaeda communiqué was urgently translated by foreign embassies in Tel Aviv and transmitted to their governments. They concluded that the document was put together by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s subordinates posted in the Gaza Strip and contains a direct threat to unleash Iraq-style terror in the Palestinian territory against the targets listed below.
Therefore, diplomatic, security and international aid staff can expect to be pulled out of the Gaza Strip without delay.
DEBKAfileÂ’s sources stress that the meaning for the Palestinian Authority, Israel and even Hamas, is the launch of an al Qaeda offensive to transform the Gaza Strip into a radical Islamic entity as set out by the statement issued by the Army of Jihad: "...we address all believers of our people and all those who sacrificed their blood and property to defend Islam and Muslims against the Zionist occupation.
Allah ordered us to fight to combat atheism. With AllahÂ’s support we defeated our enemy and obliged Israel to withdraw in humiliation from the Gaza Strip. One thing remaining to be done is to implement Sharia laws."
These are the targets listed in the al Qaeda statement:
*Corrupt elements inside and outside the Palestinian Authority
*Traders, dealers and salesmen of drugs, wines and cigarettes
*Owners of ill-mannered houses and hotels where our sons and girls are degraded and spoiled
*Internet coffee shops that allow youth to search licentious and immoral websites
*Coffee shops where immoral youth gather to smoke...and where meetings between young men and girls take place
*Any girl who goes out wearing trousers without a veil to cover her hair
*All non-Muslim foreigners of all different nationalities are warned to leave
*Collaborators with Israel are warned "we will never relax in targeting them."
*All foreign embassies and consulates must be evacuated and their staff leave within one month of this date
*All auditoriums holding wedding ceremonies that are "rakish and uninhibited"
*Policemen who impede us and protect corrupt men
*All corrupt leaders, even if they are influential and powerful in the Authority and organizations, are our first target.
Monday, Feb. 27, IsraelÂ’s acting prime minister Ehud Olmert said he does not see Hamas as being a strategic security threat to the country. This is seen by DEBKAfileÂ’s political sources as an effort to soothe concerns and divert attention from the menace building up in the Gaza Strip.