RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 2, 2006
Abbas: Qaeda Is In Gaza, West Bank
Warns Presence Could 'Ruin' Entire Region; Israel Says It's Aware
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Palestinian workers destroy vegetables on the Palestinian side of the Karni crossing to protest Israel's closing of the main cargo crossing between Israel and in the Gaza Strip for an additional day, March, 2, 2006. (AP)
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Mourners carry the body of top commander of the Islamic Jihad's military wing in the Gaza Strip after a missile destroyed his car in Gaza City, March 2, 2006. Israel says it was not responsible. (AP)
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Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, meets Israeli President Moshe Katsav, March 2, 2006. (AP)
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Children from the family of top Islamic Jihad military commander Khaled Dahdouh react as his body is taken for burial, March 2, 2006. (AP)
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"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.
In other developments:
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has repeatedly identified Israel as a target, and the Palestinian cause as one of the reasons for the network's attacks.
"There are, of course, attempts by terror elements, including international ones, to extend their reach in areas adjacent to us," Olmert told reporters in Jerusalem.
"We will respond to terror with an iron fist," he said. "There are no restraints on security forces to use any means necessary to stop attacks."
Olmert spoke after a rash of shootings and stabbings claimed the life of one Israeli civilian and injured five since Tuesday. In the latest attack, just a month before Israel's March 28 elections, an Israeli man was stabbed in the neck at an Israeli factory in northern Jerusalem on Thursday.
Additionally, militants in Palestinian-controlled Gaza have been firing homemade rockets at southern Israel, unsettling residents but causing few injuries.
In recent weeks, Israel has stepped up arrest raids in the West Bank and carried out pinpointed killings of Gaza militants it says were involved in planning or carrying out attacks. It denied involvement, however, in a car blast Wednesday in Gaza City that killed Islamic Jihad's top military commander in Gaza, Khaled Dahdouh.
In other news, about three dozen Fatah gunmen briefly fired in the air outside the Palestinian parliament building Thursday. One of the gunmen, Kamel Ghanem, said the group staged the protest because it was afraid Fatah, defeated in Jan. 25 parliament elections, would be marginalized by the victorious Hamas.
©MMVI CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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