Egypt and Jordan..the new al Qaeda fronts

As I reported here, it appears that al Qaeda has left most of the day to day terrorist operations in Iraq to Iran, through Iran's control of a significant part of the Shiite political parties and the militias, especially Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.

The new objective seems to be destabilizing key parts of the Sunni bloc put together by the Bush Administration...since it looks like the faith invested in `Arab Democracy' has proven to be a wee bit premature on Dubbya's part.

After the terrorist attacks on Dahab in Egyptian Sinai, the Egyptian security services have arrested numerous people connected with the terrorist attack, and the Egyptian military apparently hasattacked several al Qaeda strongholds deep in Sinai , including a large base located on Jebel Magharah, just southwest of El Arish. They are also reported to be raiding more new al Qaeda havens around St. Catherine’s monastery and Wadi Paran in the south.

Egypt's President Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah met over the weekend in Aqaba to discuss the implication of Zarqawi's stepped-up operations in Egypt, Sinai, Israel and Jordan.

They were briefed by their intelligence chiefs on al Qaeda's penetration into Egypt, it's linkup with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and the heavy recruitment by Zarqawi of Palestinians in Jordan and Gaza.

Last Friday, the Jerusalem Post reported that Zarqawi and company issued death warrants against five Fatah followers of Palestinian chairman Mahmoud Abbas: former interior minister and Gaza gang boss Muhammad Dahlan, former PA Information minister Yasser Abd Rabbo, the deputy chief of Gaza’s Preventive Security Service Samir Mashrawi, and Abu Ali Shihin, an old Arafat loyalist and gang boss in Rafah.

Significantly, the five were described in leaflets circulating throughout the Palestinian areas as `apostates to be sacrificed.'

While I personally wouldn't shed a tear to see any of these people pay a visit to Allah, the fact that al Qaeda had taken the side of Hamas in the ongoing Palestinian power struggle and feels comfortable enough to openly issue death threats is highly significant.