(Center for Nonproliferation Studies) Jeffrey Fields - Some 25,000 people of Arab descent live in the tri-border region of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Francis Taylor, the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism, told Congress that the tri-border region had a "long-standing presence of Islamic extremist organizations." In 1999, agents from Argentina's Secretariat of State Intelligence told the CIA that operatives from al Qaeda were in the tri-border region and coordinating with extremist Shiite groups. At least one U.S. intelligence official says there are indications that al Qaeda is working in Latin America preparing for a future attack.
2002-12-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive