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Blanchard

Al Qaida moving into Gaza, may join fight against Israel

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, January 24, 2002

ANKARA Ñ Western diplomatic sources said Al Qaida insurgents have infiltrated the West Bank and Gaza Strip in an effort to determine whether the movement should make the Palestinian areas its new home. The sources said Al Qaida appears to prefer the Gaza Strip over more distant locations such as Somalia.

Israeli military sources said Al Qaida agents have been steadily flowing into PA areas, Middle East Newsline reported. The sources said they have formed close links with senior PA officials, including Mohammed Dahlan, the head of the Preventive Security Apparatus in the Gaza Strip.



Saudi fugitive Osama Bin Laden is said to be considering the Palestinian Authority as the new base for his Al Qaida movement, a senior official said. "The organization [Al Qaida] has not yet been completely defeated," the official told the Ankara-based Turkish Daily News on Wednesday. "It will continue to cause more headaches for the international community."

The official, regarded as an expert on Afghanistan, said the Palestinian Authority could be the next address of Al Qaida. The official said the movement would then join the Palestinian war against Israel.

Such a war, the diplomatic sources said, would escalate as Al Qaida insurgents introduce nonconventional weapons. The sources said Al Qaida agents might have already transferred weapons of mass destruction technology to such Islamic insurgency groups as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

U.S. officials said the Al Qaida infrastructure in Afghanistan has been shattered and many insurgents are regrouping in Iran and Pakistan. But the officials said some leaders of the group are believed to have escaped South Asia by sea.

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