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According to BBC Monitoring, the London-based newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi reported on October 18 a threat by al-Qaida to seek vengeance on Azerbaijan for handing over two Egyptian terrorists (?Ahmad Salam Bubarak and ?Izem Hafiz Mubarak) to Egypt. The two prisoners were members of Al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, an organization that is with the al-Qaida network. The two were said to have been arrested two years ago in Baku by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

The source, close to Islamic Jihad, claims the attacks have been prepared against U.S. targets and against those countries that assisted in the arrest of the organization's members. The newspaper claimed that the source also reported that Ayman al-Zawahiri had taken responsbility for the preparation of the attacks.

Another London-based newspaper reports that the Egyptian Islamic Jihad has chemical and biological weapons that may be used in the attacks that are planned against U.S. targets. The newspaper also reported that one of the two prisoners arrested in Baku (?Ahmad Salam Mubarak) had claimed in court that al-Qaida has drawn up plans to attack 100 U.S. and Israeli facilities world-wide. Mubarak also claimed that the Islamic Jihad got its chemical and biological weapons from former countries of the Soviet Union.

Labels: al Qaeda, Al-Qa'idah, Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaida, biological weapons, chemical weapons, Islamic Jihad