Syrian-based Al Qaida operatives tied to plan for Europe offensive
LONDON - Al Qaida-aligned insurgents based in Syria have been linked to a plot to attack Western European targets. Islamic sources said the Syrian-based Jund Al Sham has agreed to join an effort with other Al Qaida groups to launch a series of attacks in Western Europe. Syria will serve as the base of operations and planning for an Al Qaida campaign against European Union countries, particularly France and Spain, in early 2006, the sources said. "Syria has served as a meeting point for a host of Al Qaida groups intent on striking Europe," an Islamic source said. "It is certain that the government in Damascus knows about some of these activities." [On Dec. 12, three people were killed in a bombing in Beirut. The target was an anti-Syrian Lebanese parliamentarian, Jibran Tueini, killed in the strike.] The sources said the plans were discovered during the arrest of Al Qaida-aligned insurgents in Algeria and Morocco in 2005. Some of the insurgents were trained and instructed by senior operatives in Syria to restore networks in North Africa. In Spain, police have arrested at least seven suspected Islamic insurgents linked to Al Qaida. Media reports said the detainees were charged with raising money for the Algerian-based Salafist Brigade for Combat and Call, regarded as Al Qaida's leading subcontractor. This was the second arrest in three weeks of alleged members of a Salafist support network. On Nov. 23, Spanish police arrested 11 Algerians suspected of providing financing and logistical support to the Salafist Brigade. On Dec. 12, French security forces arrested about 20 suspected Islamic insurgents in the Paris area linked to the Salafist Brigades. A police statement in Paris said the suspects comprised an insurgency network that included "common criminals." On Dec. 8, the London-based Al Hayat daily reported that Jund Al Sham and the Salafist Brigade agreed to coordinate a European offensive. Al Hayat said the two groups met in Damascus for four days during April 2005 and identified targets in such EU states as France, Germany and Italy. The newspaper said Algeria learned of the plot from Salafist insurgents captured and extradited by Syria. One of the participants said the Al Qaida leadership in Afghanistan had been consulted on the plans. According to the captured Salafist insurgents, the plan called for five operatives in France to travel to Lebanon for explosives training. The operatives were then to return to Europe next year to launch their attacks. The Islamic sources said that in mid-2005 Al Qaida operatives also arrived in Morocco from their base in Syria to revive insurgency cells. They said the Syrian-based operatives also planned to bolster the Al Qaida network in Saudi Arabia. The alliance between the Salafists and Jund Al Sham is unprecedented, the sources said. Jund Al Sham has long been seen as linked to elements of the regime of President Bashar Assad. Over the past six months, however, Jund has become more independent amid a Syrian crackdown on insurgents bound for Iraq. The United States has repeatedly warned Syrian President Bashar Assad to halt the influx of foreign volunteers into Iraq fighting the coalition. http://www.geostrategy-direct.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back! http://us.click.yahoo.com/g0CDCD/tzNLAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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