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DEBKAfile Exclusive: Al Qaeda marks the forthcoming Middle East conference with new threats to the US and Israel

“Annapolis won’t save the Metropolis” (an apparent reference to Manhattan, New York) is the heading over the threat to attack the US, published Wednesday Nov. 21 on al Qaeda’s main web sites, DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report. Sites in Gaza linked to al Qaeda warned Tuesday night, Nov. 20, that a cell is already inside Israel and primed for mass attacks.

Our sources report that Israeli security chiefs initially made light of the warning – until the threat against the United States appeared 24 hours later. The two warnings were clearly coordinated.

“A soldier in the Army for the Destruction of the Metropolis” signs the ten-page issue addressed to the United States. They lead off with a large photo of the second airliner to strike the New York Trade Center on Sept. 11, followed by an illustration of the crumbling “Tower of Babel.”

The writers pronounce the Annapolis conference an act of betrayal by Palestinian leaders Abu Mazen and Mohammed Dahlan, then ask caustically, “How is winter in Afghanistan going for the Americans? This is a reference to the escalation of al Qaeda attacks on US forces in Afghanistan. “Make no mistake,” the bulletin continues. “The Metropolis is the target of our next attack.”

“To this day, the United States does not understand how the Tower of the Metropolis collapsed or how the Tower of Babel was destroyed. They think it was an act of terror but it was really a divine act of grace for the Muslims.”

DEBKAfile’s sources disclose that the message from Gaza claims for the first time that al Qaeda has planted cells inside Israel, which include American and Australian operatives, some of whom are Hebrew-speakers. They are described as trained in the use of all kinds of explosives and under orders to execute attacks that will be attributed to Palestinians on the eve of the conference in Maryland.