Free Republic

JERUSALEM - Israel's chief intelligence agency, the Mossad, is now working with Turkey to track down al Qaeda agents in the region. The extraordinary alliance between security officials in Muslim Turkey and the Jewish state shows how seriously the world's intelligence agencies are taking the continuing threat from Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s terror network. Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, confirmed the ties to Mossad in a recent interview with Israeli TV. Erdogan admitted Turkey had misread the al Qaeda threat before homicide bombers struck twice in Istanbul last November. "That's the nature of terrorism," he said....

<p>January 9, 2004 -- JERUSALEM - Israel's chief intelligence agency, the Mossad, is now working with Turkey to track down al Qaeda agents in the region. The extraordinary alliance between security officials in Muslim Turkey and the Jewish state shows how seriously the world's intelligence agencies are taking the continuing threat from Osama bin Laden's terror network.</p>

Al-Qaida operatives under arrest say the terror network planned a suicide attack on Israel similar to the Sept. 11 hijackings in the United States, according to an Israeli official. Israel's army chief Moshe Ya'alon said al-Qaida tried to recruit Saudi Arabian Air Force pilots for the assault which was to involve F-15 fighter jets or civilian aircraft. Speaking at a conference on terrorism in Herzliya, Israel, yesterday, Ya'alon noted the Saudi Arabian Air Force recently stationed F-15 fighter jets at the Tabuk base, in northern Saudi Arabia, not far from Israel's southern border. "The deployment of Saudi Arabian F-16s in...