[Reuters] Nidal al-Mughrabi - Palestinian Islamist radical groups inspired by al-Qaeda are recruiting thousands of members in Gaza including senior militants from Hamas, a senior figure among the radicals known as Abu Mohammed al-Maqdessi said this week. Maqdessi said nearly 500 people had been detained since the August 14 Hamas attack on the Jund Ansar group, whose leader Abdel-Latif Moussa was killed. He said the group was attracting senior militants from Hamas itself - a trend borne out by the deaths of former members of Hamas' Qassam Brigades alongside Moussa. "Leading Qassam figures are now attending lectures our Salafist sheikhs are giving in secret," Maqdessi said.
2009-09-17 08:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive