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LONDON BOMBS: ITALY BE PREPARED, AL-QAEDA WILL STRIKE SOON, SAYS SAUDI DISSIDENT

Rome, 12 July (AKI) - A Saudi dissident exiled in London has warned Italy that it will be the next to be hit after London. "Italy should be very careful, al-Qaeda will strike it soon. Following its strategy, that is the most logical thing it will do," Saad al-Faqih, a surgeon the US believes has helped finance al-Qaeda, told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

"After Spain, Italy was the weakest link in the chain of allies in Iraq," he told the newspaper, pointing out that the country's relations with America have subsequently worsened. "Osama bin Laden will be well aware of that. He follows everything. The murder of your secret service agent in Baghdad [Nicola Calipari, who was shot dead by an American soldier at a checkpoint in March, as he took newly freed Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena to the airport] certainly won't have passed him by, or the anger of the Milan judge over the illegal kidnapping carried out in your country by the CIA. It could be that these diplomatic differences with Washington have convinced al-Qaeda to strike London before Rome or Milan, but it is only a question of time," he said.

Al-Faqih, a medical doctor who has lived in the British capital for many years, vehemently denies any links with Osama bin Laden's group and his supporters claim he is simply an advocate for peaceful reform in the Saudi kingdom. However, the US has indicated him as a suspected associate of al-Qaeda and has frozen the funds of his group, the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA). He describes himself as "only an observer", even though he is said to have crossed paths with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, fighting the Soviets there, alongside the Mujahadeen.

He says he is so sure that Italy will be attacked "from observing al-Qaeda's behaviour and from a knowledge of the Koran. The London bombs are a message to the United Kingdom and the whole of Europe. Osama was explicit immediately after the Madrid attacks. He offered the Old Continent [Europe] a unilateral truce which was completely ignored. Now he has turned to other means of convincing them. Italy should brace itself."

Al-Faqih also highlights a saying of the Prophet Muhammad as proof that Italy will be hit, saying, "Osama remembers the words of the Prophet: "You [Muslims] will make a truce with the Romans and will fight a common enemy." There are other versions of the same 'hadis' [a saying of the Prophet]: "You will force the Romans to a truce...". This is exactly what Bin Laden wants: to force Italy to abandon the alliance with America."

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.186098656&par=0

More recent spoutings from Al Fagih:

“It has nothing to do with me,” he said from his home in Willesden, northwest London. “I condemn these attacks.”

Al-Fagih, however, said he was in no doubt that Al-Qaeda was behind the bombings and claimed the perpetrators were either “indigenous” Muslims or foreigners who had been settled in Britain for some time.

“Thanks to the American invasion of Iraq, Al-Qaeda has no shortage of manpower,” he said. “My sources tell me that 3,000 Saudis have joined the jihad in Iraq and are prepared to become suicide bombers anywhere in the world.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1688184,00.html