Author: Agencies
Publication: www.expressindia.com
Date: November 20, 2001
URL: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=4689
Washington, November 19: Hundreds
of al Qaeda "sleeper agents" are living in Europe waiting for orders to
attack, according to a report in The Washington Post citing France's chief
counter intelligence officer. Jean-Jacques Pascal, head of France's DST
counter intelligence agency, said a number of "neo-Afghans," or Algerians
who trained in Afghan terrorist camps, had resettled in Europe.
The DST issued a warning about these
"sleepers" as early as 1998, according to the report, an opinion column
quoting a "rare interview" with Pascal.
Pascal told The Post that many of
these agents were educated and apparently assimilated young men trained
in "heavy" terrorist operations in Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden's
camps in Afghanistan.
The secret network was a threat,
given "what they may have in their portfolio," The Post quoted Pascal as
saying. According to the report, the DST, working with intelligence agencies
across Europe, managed to break up several planned al Qaeda operations,
including plans to bomb France's 1998 world cup soccer matches.
Authorities also interrupted plans
for an attack during Christmas 2000 in Strasbourg, home of the European
Parliament, and a scheme this year to blow up the US embassy in Paris,
The Post said.
