Posted on 05/21/2005 4:53:33 PM PDT by Crackingham
Al-Qaeda has established a foothold in Palestine with a new militant group based in Gaza formed by extremists who have become disillusioned with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Amid the biggest flare-up of violence in Gaza since a ceasefire was declared three months ago by Palestinians and Israelis, the Jerusalem Post has quoted unnamed Palestinian Authority security officials as saying that a new group called Jundallah or 'Allah's Brigade' had links to the terrorist organisation headed by Osama bin Laden.
The new terror group consists mainly of former Hamas and Islamic Jihad members who believe these two militant groups have become too moderate. It has close ties to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.
Khaled Abu Toameh, a journalist for the Jerusalem Post, Israel's oldest and most respected English-language daily, has interviewed PA officials who said the establishment of Jundallah confirmed suspicions that al-Qaeda was attempting to gain a foothold in Gaza ahead of the planned Israeli withdrawal beginning on August 15. Israel is to evacuate all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four of 120 in the West Bank under prime minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. The PA officials were quoted as saying that Jundallah gunmen launched their first attack on Israeli soldiers near Rafah in Gaza last week. Four soldiers were wounded in the incident.
Abu Abdullah al-Khattab, who identified himself as the spokesman for Jundallah in Gaza, denied his group was linked to al-Qaeda but hinted that as well as Israeli targets, the group was planning to target US interests in the region.
"Our people will not remain idle in the face of American crimes in Muslim countries," he said. "Soon everyone will see operations [against the US] that will make all the Muslims delighted." He also said Jundallah would not honour any unofficial truce with Israel.
Moslem death-cult ping!
Annette forgot to include al-Qaeda in Iraq.
uber-terrorist alert
If OBL could be found & eliminated, al queda becomes history.
Hardly.
OBL is easily replaceable within AQ's organizational ranks.
I guess if Al Queda runs and wins in the Palestinian elections, we'll have to respect the outcome 'cause it was democratic.
Who's Al Qaida again? I forgot.
Its not important-go back to sleep.
So does that mean our war against al-Qaeda is failing if their influence is spreading?
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