Abbas: Qaeda Is In Gaza, West Bank

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/02/world/main1362344.shtml

Abbas: Qaeda Is In Gaza, West Bank


(CBS/AP) The Al Qaeda terror network has infiltrated the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and its operations there could have dire consequences for the entire region, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview published Thursday.

"We have signs of an al Qaeda presence in the West Bank and Gaza," Abbas told the London-based Al Hayat newspaper, without elaborating. "The infiltration of al Qaeda can ruin the whole region," he said.

Palestinian security forces haven't captured any Al Qaeda operatives, he told the newspaper.

Israel said it is aware of the al Qaeda presence, and that it is intensifying the war on terror, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger (audio). It recently arrested a Palestinian it said worked for the group. And Jordan's King Abdullah has said al Qaeda has set up terror cells in Israel.