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WASHINGTON & JERUSALEM (Islam Online & AFP) - Israel has arrested a number of members of a ring it says is linked to Osama Bin Laden. According to Israeli authorities, Bin Laden's group was planning a massive attack in Israel to ruin the Middle East peace process.
Bin Laden, who is currently living in Afghanistan, is on the United States' most wanted list for allegedly organizing and bombing U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said, "The Bin Laden world net has a lot of money, it is sophisticated and very extreme, it wanted to carry out a massive attack in Israel." Security forces in Israel on Monday, with the collaboration of Palestinian security forces, conducted an operation in which more than 20 Arabs were arrested in connection with Bin Laden. Israeli radio and officials said members of the ring had been planning to kidnap Israeli soldiers, attack Jewish settlements in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, and perform suicide bombings, reported the AFP. Among those who were arrested by security forces were three Arab Israelis who are members of the Islamic Movement, an organization that operates legally in Jerusalem. According to the AFP, the Islamic Movement denied any link to Bin Laden's group. Nabil Awkel, accused by Israel of leading the ring, was arrested in June by Israeli forces. According to Israeli sources Awkel spent three years in Pakistan officially studying religion, but instead was trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan in camps sponsored by Bin Laden. Awkel returned to Palestine and supposedly linked up with Hamas. Sneh told AFP, "We are on the alert all the time, we have to take the warnings seriously. Islamic radicals who disagree with the peace process know that an attack on Israel could be a colossal political disturbance." "The Bin Laden group belongs to a very large world net which adopted an extreme Islamist ideology which has now added Israel to its target list," added Sneh. Hamas founder and leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin denied that his group had any links to Bin Laden's movement. According to AFP, Yassin accused the Israeli government of making up the tale of breaking Bin Laden's ring to enhance its popularity at home and increase financial support from the U.S. Last week, the U.S. issued a travel warning for Israel and Palestinian territories saying it believed there is a chance of terrorist attacks. |
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