Istanbul
Photo: AP
Warning: Al-Qaeda planning attacks on Israeli targets in Turkey
Intelligence information obtained by security establishment indicates global terror group's cells have infiltrated Turkey, planning attacks on sites affiliated with Israel, US
The security establishment has received specific intelligence information according to which al-Qaeda cells that have infiltrated Turkey are planning to carry out terror attacks on Israeli targets and sites affiliated with the United States, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday.
Direct Threat
Al-Qaeda leader issues unusually direct threat against Israel, promising Palestinians his organization plans to expand its jihad to the region. 'We will not recognize even once inch for Jews in the land of Palestine as other Muslim leaders have,' says Bin Laden in audio recording posted to website
Fresh security guidelines have been relayed to Israeli government agencies and businesses operating throughout Turkey in light of the threat.
Last weekend a videotape surfaced in which Osama bin Laden threatened to launch a terror attack against Israel. ''I would like to assure our people in Palestine that we will expand our jihad there. We intend to liberate Palestine, the whole of Palestine from the (Jordan) river to the sea," he said.
Israel fears al-Qaeda will carry out an attack similar to those launched in November, 2003 against two synagogues, the British consulate and an HSBC branch in Istanbul.
Fifty-two people were killed and some 700 others were injured in the attacks.
"We have proof that al-Qaeda is involved in Palestinian terror activity," a source in Prime Minster Ehud Olmert's office said Sunday. "Bin Laden's organization is combining forces with several extremist Palestinian groups. While the level of their infrastructure has not reached that of Hamas, it is their determination that concerns us most."
MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Kadima), chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Sunday "al-Qaeda struck in Lebanon, Australia, Indonesia, Madrid, New York and London. They can easily target the Middle East and we need to be prepared for that scenario."
