Islamic group planned to use chem-bio weapons

CAIRO [MENL] -- An Islamic militant group planned to launch 100 chemical and biological weapons attacks on Israeli and U.S. targets, a newspaper reported on Monday.

In an interview with the London-based Al Hayat daily, Ahmed Salama Mabrouk said, however, that the plans were foiled when he was arrested by the CIA in Azerbaijan in September. Mabrouk was then handed over to Egyptian authorities and prosecuted as one of 107 suspected members of terrorist organizations.

Mabrouk, head of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad military operations, told Al Hayat that his group had drafted a plan for "carrying out 100 attacks against U.S. and Israeli targets and public figures in different parts of the world."

But, he added, the plan was foiled when the CIA arrested him and seized a computer disk that contained the information required to carry out the attacks. He said Islamic fundamentalists, particularly Osama Bin Laden, possess chemical and biological weapons and will use them. Bin Laden has been accused of masterminding the bombing of two U.S. embassies in east Africa last year.

On Sunday, an Egyptian court sentenced to death nine members of Bin Laden's group. In addition, 78 were given jail terms and 11, including Mabrouk, were sentenced to life in prison with hard labor. The remaining 20 defendants were acquitted.

Only 47 of the defendants were in custody.

Last month, Islamic Jihad vowed to continue attacks on United States and Israel. The statement came two days after the larger Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya announced a ceasefire with Egypt.