JERUSALEM, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Between 150 and 200 al Qaida operatives, including senior commanders, have settled in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon with tacit Syrian permission, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Monday.
Information of the new cell calls to question the assumed Syrian cooperation with U.S. intelligence efforts to root out the al Qaida network, which the United States blames for the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Syria maintains extensive military presence in Lebanon and exercises a large measure of control over the country.
Al Qaida members fleeing the U.S. attack on Afghanistan after Sept. 11 arrived at the Ein Hilwe camp through Damascus and Iran, the report states. Haaretz reported that the al Qaida operatives, led by commanders in Afghanistan, have initiated battles for dominance in the Lebanese camp and are establishing a local infrastructure.
Moreover, al Qaida leader Mohammed Atta has visited Syria two or three times, while Osama bin Laden's son Omar has visited Syria twice since the terror attacks on New York and Washington, Haaretz states citing intelligence reports.
Despite Syria's seeming cooperation, only intelligence campaigns in other countries shed light on the new Lebanon cell, Haaretz reported.
