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http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.186098656&par=0ITALY BE PREPARED, AL-QAEDA WILL STRIKE SOON, SAYS SAUDI DISSIDENT
Rome, 12 July (AKI) - A Saudi dissident exiled in London has warned Italy that it will be the next to be hit after London. "Italy should be very careful, al-Qaeda will strike it soon. Following its strategy, that is the most logical thing it will do," Saad al-Faqih, a surgeon the US believes has helped finance al-Qaeda, told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
"After Spain, Italy was the weakest link in the chain of allies in Iraq," he told the newspaper, pointing out that the country's relations with America have subsequently worsened. "Osama bin Laden will be well aware of that. He follows everything. The murder of your secret service agent in Baghdad
certainly won't have passed him by, or the anger of the Milan judge over the illegal kidnapping carried out in your country by the CIA. It could be that these diplomatic differences with Washington have convinced al-Qaeda to strike London before Rome or Milan, but it is only a question of time," he said.
Al-Faqih, a medical doctor who has lived in the British capital for many years, vehemently denies any links with Osama bin Laden's group and his supporters claim he is simply an advocate for peaceful reform in the Saudi kingdom. However, the US has indicated him as a suspected associate of al-Qaeda and has frozen the funds of his group, the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA). He describes himself as "only an observer", even though he is said to have crossed paths with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, fighting the Soviets there, alongside the Mujahadeen.
He says he is so sure that Italy will be attacked "from observing al-Qaeda's behaviour and from a knowledge of the Koran. The London bombs are a message to the United Kingdom and the whole of Europe. Osama was explicit immediately after the Madrid attacks. He offered the Old Continent a unilateral truce which was completely ignored. Now he has turned to other means of convincing them. Italy should brace itself."
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