Israel Matzav

Sky News: Iran and al-Qaeda cooperating on terror attacks

Iran and al Qaeda's core leadership under Ayman al Zawahiri have established an "operational relationship" amid fears the terror group is planning a spectacular attack against the West.

There are concerns such an attack, possibly targeting the Olympics, would be in revenge for the killing of Osama bin Laden by the US last year.

Sky News' intelligence sources have said Iran has been supplying al Qaeda with training in the use of advanced explosives, "some funding and a safe haven" as part of a deal first worked out in 2009 which has now led to "operational capacity".

The United States has become so concerned about the close relationship that late last year it issued a $10m (£6.4m) reward for information leading to the whereabouts of a Syrian al Qaeda leader in Iran, Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil, better known as Yasin al Suri.

The reward offered for al Suri, 30, puts him on the same level as Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Only al Zawahiri, who replaced bin Laden, has a higher price, $25m (£16m), on his head.

According to Sky sources, Iran has reacted to the publication of al Suri's name by taking him into "protective custody".

"If someone got hold of him, he would have the most incredible amount of intelligence and so it makes sense to make sure that he is protected," said a source.

But al Suri has been swiftly replaced - a sign, Sky intelligence sources say, that the al Qaeda relationship with Iran is of great mutual importance.

The new al Qaeda leader in Iran, effectively the most important figure outside the core leadership based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, is Muhsin al Fadhli.

The al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan is worried it is losing its grip on the movement's "franchise".

Al Zawahiri is believed to be planning a "classic" al Qaeda attack, simultaneously on multiple locations, which would confirm the mantle he has assumed as the leader of the global jihad.

A source said: "Iran is the main route through which funding for the organisations is made, the main route for operatives to travel to Pakistan for training, and it is the only real way by which al Zawahiri can control and order a major attack."

The sources have no specific intelligence on what the al Qaeda target is, nor when it might be launched.

Labels: al-Qaeda, Iran, Islamic terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:23 PM