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Israel says cracks Palestinian al Qaeda cell in Jerusalem

World News

22-01-2014 | 11:51

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Israel says cracks Palestinian al Qaeda cell in Jerusalem

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Israel said on Wednesday it had arrested two Palestinians from East Jerusalem who were planning to carry out attacks for al Qaeda with the help of foreign suicide bombers posing as Russian tourists.

The men were recruited by another al Qaeda agent in the Gaza Strip, said Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency - the second Israeli report in as many months suggesting the militant network was taking root among Palestinians.

Hamas Islamists governing Gaza rejected the spy agency's account as "silly fabrications", saying it was an attempt to justify Israeli military strikes in the territory.

Security experts say al Qaeda and its global agenda have for a long time had only a only fringe appeal among Palestinians as they pursue a more nationalist conflict with the Jewish state.

The two Palestinians, who could travel freely in Israel because of their Jerusalem residency, were recruited over Facebook and Skype, Shin Bet said in a statement, which appeared to be based on confessions by the detainees.

It did not say if they had lawyers or how they might plead in open court. Civil rights groups have often accused the Shin Bet of duress against terrorism suspects.

According to the agency, the Palestinians planned to provide bomb vests to foreign militants posing as Russian tourists for attacks on an Israeli convention centre in Jerusalem and the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

The detainees were further accused of planning to kidnap a soldier and shoot up an Israeli bus in the occupied West Bank. One of the men was arrested as he prepared to travel to Syria, via Turkey, to undergo weapons training, the Shin Bet said.

REUTERS

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