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Palestinians: Israel Faked Gaza Al Qaeda Presence
Sat December 7, 2002 07:55 AM ET

By Diala Saadeh
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority accused Israel's Mossad spy agency on Saturday of setting up a fake al Qaeda cell in Gaza so that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could justify Israeli attacks in Palestinian areas.

A spokesman for Sharon called the allegation "sheer nonsense."

The Israeli leader said on Thursday that Osama bin Laden's organization had established a presence in Palestinian-ruled areas of Gaza and in Lebanon, aiming to attack Israel. He gave no further details in his comments at an Israeli media lunch.

"It is a big, big, big lie to cover (Sharon's) attacks and his crimes against our people everywhere," Palestinian President Yasser Arafat told reporters at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo pointed to an alleged Israeli plot.

"There are certain elements who were instructed by the Mossad to form a cell under the name of Al Qaeda in the Gaza Strip in order to justify the assault and the military campaigns of the Israeli occupation army against Gaza," Abed Rabbo said.

He did not elaborate, but Palestinian officials said they would present proof of Mossad involvement at a news conference on Sunday.

Sharon's allegation of a link between al Qaeda and the Palestinians marked a new stage in his equation of Israel's battle against militants leading a two-year-old uprising for statehood to the U.S.-led global war against terrorism.

Israel has named al Qaeda as prime suspect in a suicide bombing at a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya last week that killed 13 Kenyans and three Israelis and a failed attempt to shoot down with missiles an Israeli airliner taking off nearby.

The United States blames al Qaeda, a multinational Islamic fundamentalist network, for the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.

Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Sharon, said Abed Rabbo's comments were part of an attempt by Palestinian officials "to exonerate themselves from the allegations they are collaborating and participating with terrorists."

Palestinians: Israel Faked Gaza Al Qaeda Presence
Sat December 7, 2002 07:55 AM ET

By Diala Saadeh
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority accused Israel's Mossad spy agency on Saturday of setting up a fake al Qaeda cell in Gaza so that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could justify Israeli attacks in Palestinian areas.

A spokesman for Sharon called the allegation "sheer nonsense."

The Israeli leader said on Thursday that Osama bin Laden's organization had established a presence in Palestinian-ruled areas of Gaza and in Lebanon, aiming to attack Israel. He gave no further details in his comments at an Israeli media lunch.

"It is a big, big, big lie to cover (Sharon's) attacks and his crimes against our people everywhere," Palestinian President Yasser Arafat told reporters at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo pointed to an alleged Israeli plot.

"There are certain elements who were instructed by the Mossad to form a cell under the name of Al Qaeda in the Gaza Strip in order to justify the assault and the military campaigns of the Israeli occupation army against Gaza," Abed Rabbo said.

He did not elaborate, but Palestinian officials said they would present proof of Mossad involvement at a news conference on Sunday.

Sharon's allegation of a link between al Qaeda and the Palestinians marked a new stage in his equation of Israel's battle against militants leading a two-year-old uprising for statehood to the U.S.-led global war against terrorism.

Israel has named al Qaeda as prime suspect in a suicide bombing at a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya last week that killed 13 Kenyans and three Israelis and a failed attempt to shoot down with missiles an Israeli airliner taking off nearby.

The United States blames al Qaeda, a multinational Islamic fundamentalist network, for the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.

Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Sharon, said Abed Rabbo's comments were part of an attempt by Palestinian officials "to exonerate themselves from the allegations they are collaborating and participating with terrorists."