MIDDLE EAST: HAMAS LEADER MEETS WITH AL-QAEDA LOYALIST, ISRAELI DAILY REPORTS
Jerusalem, 14 April (AKI) - Hamas' exiled leader Khaled Mashaal has met with a man described by the United States as aN al-Qaeda "loyalist" in Yemen, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday, citing a think-tank. "In an another sign of the Palestinian leadership growing alliance with al-Qaida, Damascus-based Hamas head Khaled Mashaal recently met in Yemen with a representative of Osama bin Laden's organization who is wanted by the US for his involvement in supporting and funding global terror," the Jerusalem Post said.
The meeting allegedly took place when during Mashaal's visit to Yemen two weeks ago, the local Hamas branch organized a fund-raising event to recruit financial aid for the new Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government. During the event, Mashaal met with Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, who the Jerusalem Post said is suspected by the US as being a "loyalist to Osama bin Laden and supporter of al-Qaida".
Al-Zidani also donated 200,000 Yemenite rials (around 1,000 US dollars) to Hamas, the Jerusalem Post said.
"This meeting reinforces the fact that Hamas and al-Qaida come out of the same ideological well-spring of global jihad and the Muslim Brotherhood," a former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dore Gold, whose Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told the Jerusalem Post.
Gold's think-tank followed the meeting and recently published a paper on the "Hamas-al-Qaeda alliance, " the report said.
At the fund-raising event, Zindani praised Hamas suicide bombers and called on his followers to donate money to assist the Palestinian people. "The Hamas government is the Palestinian people's government today," he told the crowd of several thousand. "It is the jihad-fighting, steadfast, resolute government of Palestine."
In 2004, US authorities designated Zindani as a terror supporter and a spiritual figure for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Zindani, the authorities claimed, played a key role in the 2004 purchasing of weapons on behalf of al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
Last week, the London-based Al Hayat newspaper reported that 10 al-Qaeda activists who had recently entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt had been captured by PA security forces. Citing Jordanian security sources, the paper said that the cells were in the midst of planning "large-scale" terror attacks on sensitive and strategic targets - possible the crossings from Gaza into Israel.
The meeting allegedly took place when during Mashaal's visit to Yemen two weeks ago, the local Hamas branch organized a fund-raising event to recruit financial aid for the new Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government. During the event, Mashaal met with Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, who the Jerusalem Post said is suspected by the US as being a "loyalist to Osama bin Laden and supporter of al-Qaida".
Al-Zidani also donated 200,000 Yemenite rials (around 1,000 US dollars) to Hamas, the Jerusalem Post said.
"This meeting reinforces the fact that Hamas and al-Qaida come out of the same ideological well-spring of global jihad and the Muslim Brotherhood," a former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dore Gold, whose Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told the Jerusalem Post.
Gold's think-tank followed the meeting and recently published a paper on the "Hamas-al-Qaeda alliance, " the report said.
At the fund-raising event, Zindani praised Hamas suicide bombers and called on his followers to donate money to assist the Palestinian people. "The Hamas government is the Palestinian people's government today," he told the crowd of several thousand. "It is the jihad-fighting, steadfast, resolute government of Palestine."
In 2004, US authorities designated Zindani as a terror supporter and a spiritual figure for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Zindani, the authorities claimed, played a key role in the 2004 purchasing of weapons on behalf of al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
Last week, the London-based Al Hayat newspaper reported that 10 al-Qaeda activists who had recently entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt had been captured by PA security forces. Citing Jordanian security sources, the paper said that the cells were in the midst of planning "large-scale" terror attacks on sensitive and strategic targets - possible the crossings from Gaza into Israel.
posted by Marko at 4/14/2006 08:13:00 AM
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