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Israel: Al Qaida recruiting Palestinians in Jordan

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, March 23, 2006

JERUSALEM — Palestinians have been joining Al Qaida and subsequently planning operations in the West Bank.

Israel has tracked and captured several Palestinians charged with being recruited by Al Qaida and authorized to conduct major attacks in Israel. The Palestinians were recruited in Jordan, officials said.

"We believe [Al Qaida network chief in Iraq] Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi has ordered recruiting the Palestinians," an Israeli official said.

So far, an Israeli military court has handed down indictments against two Palestinians from the West Bank city of Nablus, Middle East Newsline reported. Azam Abu Al'aads and Ba'lal Hafnaui, both 19, have been charged with joining Al Qaida and planning major attacks in the Jerusalem area.

The indictments, served on March 21 in the military court in Samaria, charged Al'aads and Hafnaui with conspiring to intentionally cause death, active membership in Al Qaida and other charges. The two men were accused of forming an Al Qaida cell in Nablus and planning a large-scale attack in Jerusalem.

In 2005, the two men were said to have been recruited to Al Qaida in Jordan. The indictments said they were ordered to establish an insurgency infrastructure in the West Bank that would pave the way for major attacks in Israel.

"Abu Al'aads and Hafnaui agreed and began to build up the infrastructure in the area of Nablus, recruiting members and beginning to plan attacks," a security source said. "The infrastructure was in close contact via the internet with Al Qaida members in Jordan who issued them orders and also transferred large sums of money to the Nablus based cell."

The indictment said the two Palestinians visited Jordan at least three times over the last year. In the Hashemite kingdom, they met two Al Qaida operatives and received briefings how to detect surveillance, form insurgency cells and recruit operatives.

The indictment said the Al Qaida cell recruited suicide bombers to strike a pizza store in Jerusalem's French Hill neighborhood. The attack was also meant to include a car bomb that would be detonated after people rush to the scene of the pizza store strike. On Dec. 10, Abu Al'aads and Hafnaui were arrested as they crossed the Allenby Bridge from Jordan to the West Bank and the attack was never carried out.

Officials said many of the new members of Al Qaida have come from Fatah and Hamas. They said Israeli intelligence detected an Al Qaida presence in the Gaza Strip as early as 2001, but this represented Palestinians who returned from training in Afghanistan.

In the Gaza Strip, officials said, Hamas members have been recruited to form an infrastructure that would largely be limited to indoctrination. In contrast, Al Zarqawi has been recruiting Palestinians from the West Bank for immediate attacks against Israel.

Hafnaui was a member of both Hamas and Fatah. The indictment said Alaads and Hafnaui received about $4,200 of a planned $10,000 to conduct the double bombing.

"There are thousands of young Palestinians with weapons who are looking to make money," an official said. "They are ripe for recruitment for such groups as Hizbullah or Zarqawi."


Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

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