WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department indicated Tuesday three key U.S. envoys would visit the Middle East as scheduled despite a terrorist threat.
A Palestinian militant group warned the envoys earlier Tuesday not to visit the Palestinian territories because of "U.S. biases in favor of Israel."
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, however, said it does not want to use violence against the Americans.
"We already have one enemy, Israel, and we do not want to make more enemies," said a statement issued by the group in Gaza.
Al Aqsa Brigade is a violent group linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a briefing in Washington that the United States had long considered the group a terrorist organization.
"Not surprising they'd be making these threats against people who are merely trying to go and move the process forward, and help the Palestinians achieve their aspirations for a state," he said.
Boucher said the U.S. delegation will visit the Middle East and hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials despite the threat. The delegation is scheduled to arrive in the region Wednesday.
