Al Qaeda's expansion in the Palestinian territories

By Olivier Guitta

Abu Mazen's interview to the pan-Arabic daily Al Hayat is getting lots of attention. In fact, his recognition of Al Qaeda's precense in Gaza and the West Bank coupled with his warning of the "destruction of the whole region" because of the terrorist entity, is only confirming what Israeli security services have been saying for months.

Another possible sign of Al Qaeda's expansion in the Palestinian territories has been revealed by the Emirati daily Al Ittihad. A so far unknown Palestinian group named " Jihad's Army and fight against corruption" (maybe sounding a little bit like an Al Qaeda offshoot) has been sending messages to foreign diplomatic representations in Gaza demanding that all personnel leave within a month. The communique calls for all non-Muslim foreigners to leave Gaza. It also denounces a Western style democracy on Muslim land and affirms its determination to impose sharia law.
Finally it mentions that a man like Saladeen, Ben Laden or Zarqawi is "on its way to Palestine to fight the symbols of corruption and the supporters of the infidels' democracy".

Coincidence or not, according to the newswebsite Proche-Orient.info, France has asked and obtained very quietly that all its citizens leave Gaza and the West Bank. Also, in the past six weeks, Israel had warned France three times of kidnappings risks.

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