(New York Daily News) Richard Z. Chesnoff - A top-secret report prepared by senior Mideast intelligence sources says Iran has recently stepped up its efforts to train and arm a widening range of terrorists, many of whom pose direct threats to Western targets, including in Iraq. One terrorist cell from the Palestinian Hamas gang had originally gone to Afghanistan for training, then retreated to Iran after America's Afghan offensive. According to intelligence sources, Hamas leaders working out of a base in Saudi Arabia instructed the cell to remain in Iran, join forces with militants from Iraq and Lebanon, and transfer money and false passports to them. In exchange, the Hamas cell underwent training in Iran in the making and remote activation of explosives. In January, Hamas cell members traveled to Sudan to procure more than 600 pounds of ammonium nitrate, the fertilizer chemical al-Qaeda likes to use in its explosives. Another Hamas activist rounded up dozens of cell phones to be used for the remote detonation of bombs. The explosive devices were then smuggled from Iran to the Balkans and Greece.
2004-05-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive