A weakened and isolated al-Qaeda is determined to open a new front in Iraq, a newspaper report said, citing European, US and Arab intelligence sources.
In its Sunday edition, the Washington Post reported that the turn toward Iraq was hatched in February when two Qaeda operatives held a meeting at a safe house in eastern Iran.
One of them was Mohammed Ibrahim Makawi, the network's military chief, also known as Saif Adel, and the other was Abu Musab Zarqawi, Arab intelligence officials told the Post.
After the meeting, Zarqawi became al-Qaeda's man in Iraq, opening a new chapter in the history of the network and a "serious threat" to US forces in Iraq, the daily said.
"The monster is already near you. I don't know if you can kill it," the Post quoted an Arab official as
saying. "Iraq is the new battleground. It is the perfect place. It will be the perfect place."
Zarqawi is at large in Iraq, where his mission to set up a new network of fighters is still in its beginning stages, US and Arab intelligence sources said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
