| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Why al-Qaeda targets Italy |
| 2004-07-19 |
| 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 |
| #7 Why al-Qaeda targets Italy Because they can. Until countries make a coherent attempt to identify and interdict Muslim extremists, al Qaeda will flourish. Italy, like every other nation in Europe, will need its own private terrorist atrocity before they purchase a clue. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-19 10:23:21 PM |
| #6 "An earlier website message July 7 warned Muslims "living in the West" to leave" I don't think the Western Governments are giving that part of the message enough play. It solves a lot of problems if the unassimilated Muslims living in the West actually leave. |
| Posted by: yank 2004-07-19 12:08:13 PM |
| #5 Yo! Arabs. Listen up. You want to talk about 'burning' a country? Bring it on. We've got 1,000's of multi-megaton nuclear warheads. I hear it's not too hard to drill for oil through glass. Just remember, Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the results of someone pushing us too far. |
| Posted by: Arrrrggggghhhhh 2004-07-19 10:56:21 AM |
| #4 Methinks the Mafia have many Afghani contacts re: poppy cultivation. Could be handy. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-07-19 9:48:00 AM |
| #3 "Either you dump the incompetent Berlusconi or we will really burn Italy," the message said. "We are in Italy. None of you is safe." I think terrorists groups are too negative. They criticize Berlusconi for his incompetence, but they refuse to profer an acceptatbly "competent" candidate. I'm beginning to think that the current terrorists are just a bunch of grousers - part of the problem not the solution. Aren't there any progressive terrorrists out there? |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-07-19 9:47:10 AM |
| #2 Messing with us Italians would be a mistake. I promise. (Besides the men [in Italy] wear leather jackets in the summer becuase it looks good. |
| Posted by: Dragon Fly 2004-07-19 9:46:06 AM |
| #1 Va fanculo... |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-07-19 9:43:02 AM |