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Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,1-824446,00.html
Hamas Returns to Syrian Base
(Sunday Times-UK) Uzi Mahnaimi - American and Israeli intelligence sources warned last week that militant Palestinian organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad had begun to return to their offices in Damascus and are now fully operational again. The groups are thought to have scaled down their activities during the summer after Washington put pressure on Syria in the weeks following the defeat of Saddam Hussein. The Syrians were providing different levels of sponsorship and support to at least seven organizations that appear on a list released by America's Office of Counterterrorism in October 2001. According to an Israeli intelligence source, Hamas now has two or three offices in Damascus, headed by Imad al-Alami, who "coordinates, finances and orchestrates suicide attacks in Israel." The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also operates an office in the city, headed by Abdallah Ramadan Shalah, who finances and commands the group's activities inside Israel. Both Hamas and PIJ are believed to operate training camps in Syria for Palestinians from the West Bank.