http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.199329074&par=0IRAQ: DEPUTY MINISTER WARNS AL-ZARQAWI IS SET TO STRIKE EUROPE
Rome, 22 August (AKI) - Iraq's deputy foreign minister has warned that the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is set to strike Europe. In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, Hamid al-Bayati said "Osama bin Laden has asked the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Al-Zarqawi, to organise an attack in Europe, more devastating than that of 11 September 2001." He also warned that Italy was particularly at risk.
"We have information in Iraq that there are operative links between the terrorists in our country and the fundamentalist cells residing in Italy," he added.
Al-Bayati went on to explain that these links had been confirmed by the existence "of funding in the form of money transfers and the equipping of training camps." The deputy minister concluded, "It is important that Italy does not give out any signs of weakness in dealing with the phenomenon of terrorism, for example, leaving Iraq early."