Israel Finds Al-Qa'eda At Work In West Bank

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 3-23-2006 | Tim Butcher

[blam]

Israel finds al-Qa'eda at work in West Bank

By Tim Butcher
(Filed: 23/03/2006)

Israel provided the first evidence of al-Qa'eda activity in the West Bank yesterday when two Palestinians were charged with receiving funds and training from the group for a double bombing in Jerusalem.

While Israel has often connected its own struggle against Palestinian extremism with the international "war on terror", the case gives the most concrete proof yet of al-Qa'eda penetration of the country.

However, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, recently announced he had evidence that it had tried to recruit in Gaza and the West Bank.

According to military court documents, the two Palestinians, Azam Abu Al'aads and Ba'lal Hafnaui, both 19, from Nablus, were recruited while visiting Jordan.

They then returned to Nablus and received e-mail messages from handlers to prepare for a double attack involving a bomb at a pizzeria and then a secondary device intended for the resulting crowd.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Generally, I am comfortable leaving Israel's local security to the Israelis. They have pehenoenal intelligence operations and great experience in close quarters urban warfare. The thing that disturbs me is that the Iranian's quest for nuclear weapons is accompanied by the credible thought that they would actually use 4-5 of them against Israeli population centers. They are just that crazy. So the argument for preemptive strikes is deal with it now or deal with it later (at an infinitely higher cost). We have to participate in Israel's regional defense - better to do it now (in the next 6 months) under Bush.

[jla]

"Israel must do more"

[onedoug]

"Head 'em up. Move 'em out."

Israel's forty year trek in the Sinai firmed them up.

[rbg81]

What's the difference? They all want to kill Jews (and "Crusaders"). A dung heap by any other name is still a POS.