Israel, Egypt Jordan on alert for al-Qaeda attack

Egypt, Jordan and Israel are on high alert for possible large-scale attacks by al-Qaeda members in response to last week's killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the global terror group's leader in Iraq, security sources said.

The sources said Egyptian, Jordanian and Palestinian Arab intelligence officials have held several meetings the past few days to share information and coordinate anti-terror measures in light of the new threats.

Israel has beefed up border security for fear al-Qaeda could try to penetrate from neighboring territories or attack along the border. There is also information the Popular Resistance Committees, a Gaza-based terror group, is looking to carry out an attack inside Israel to avenge al-Zarqawi's death and the assassination on the same day of its own leader, Jamal Abu Samhadana.

Al-Zarqawi was killed when two 500 pound American bombs blasted his hideout northeast of Baghdad. His declared replacement, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, this week threatened regional violence and vowed in an internet message to "defeat the crusaders and Shiites" in Iraq.

According to some reports Jordanian intelligence officers operating in Iraq provided important information that led to the assassination of al-Zarqawi.

"Jordan is on particularly high alert for revenge attacks because of the government's involvement in his killing and al-Qaeda’s known infiltration of the country," said a security source.

Al-Zarqawi, born in Jordan, previously spent time in Jordanian jails for conspiring to overthrow the country's monarchy in hopes of establishing an Islamic caliphate there. He was sentenced to death in absentia for allegedly plotting to attack the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman, Jordan, where Israeli, American and British tourists frequently lodge.

Al-Qaeda widely blamed for several Sinai attacks

Al-Qaeda, under the direction of al-Zarqawi, carried out a series of hotel bombings in Amman in November, 2005 killing 60 and injuring over 115 others. The Radisson was among the hotels attacked.

While Jordan has had some successes fighting al-Qaeda cells, security officials fear the terror group still maintains a significant infrastructure there capable of carrying out attacks.

Egypt has had difficulty eliminating al-Qaeda cells, particularly those operating among Bedouin villages in the Sinai desert bordering the Gaza Strip.

Al-Qaeda has been widely blamed for several Sinai attacks the past two years including the bomb blasts this past April that killed 24 people and injured over 85 in the Sinai town of Dahab and deadly bombings in the resort centers of Taba and Ras Shitan in October 2004 and in Sharm el-Sheik in July.

Also this past April, al-Qaeda was blamed for two bombings near multinational peacekeeping force in the Sinai adjacent to Gaza. Almost simultaneously inside Gaza the Popular Resistance Committees attempted to carry out a large-scale car bombing at the Karni Crossing, the main cargo passageway between the Gaza Strip and Israel. The attack was foiled at the last minute after Palestinian forces became suspicious and opened fire at an approaching vehicle.

Immediately following the attacks, Palestinian security officials, including the chief of a Palestinian Authority intelligence agency, told WND the suicide bombing in the Sinai and thwarted Karni attack were coordinated and were the handiwork of groups working on behalf of al-Qaeda.

"Al-Qaeda came just a few feet from attacking Israel for the first time (at Karni)," said the intelligence chief, speaking on condition his name be withheld.

Israel has for now refrained from connecting the attempted Karni attack to al-Qaeda. It said the attack was directed by a senior Hamas leader.

'We'll hit with an iron hand'

But both Israeli and Palestinian Arab leaders, including PA President Mahmoud Abbas has warned al-Qaeda infiltrated Gaza.

In March, Israel released information it had arrested two West Bank Palestinian Arabs charged with membership in al-Qaeda. The militants, arrested on their way to the West Bank from Jordan, were suspected of recruiting suicide bombers and seeking financing from Jordanian al-Qaeda cells to carry out a large-scale al-Qaeda attack inside Israel.

An Israeli security official said, "Egypt and Jordan fear attacks in their country now. The main fear for Israel is a border attack. But we are also on alert for attempts to infiltrate, particularly by the Popular Resistance Committees."

Samhadana, the Committee' leader who was also a Hamas national security minister, was assassinated the same day as al-Zarqawi. Terror leaders speaking at his funeral vowed revenge. Sources close to the group told WND pictures of al-Zarqawi were prominently displayed last week at mourning services for Samhadana held at his family's residence.

The fears of al al-Qaeda-linked attack in Israel also follows the distribution in Gaza last month of a pamphlet by group claiming to work on behalf of al-Qaeda announcing it has set up shop in the Palestinian territories and will soon target Americans and "Zionists."

"We'll hit with an iron hand all those who take part in the American Crusader and Zionist campaign against Islam," read the pamphlet, which was signed by the al-Quds (Jerusalem) Islamic Army. The leaflet said the new group will "start operating in Palestine" and threatened suicide attacks against "Zionist and Crusader targets."

The Islamic Army identified itself as an arm of al-Qaeda and stated it was established in response to calls by global jihad chief Osama bin Laden as well as al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq.

Reprinted with permission of WorldNetDaily