U.S.: Man deported by Israel for Qaida links works for Red Cross

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By Amos Harel and Baruch Kra, Ha'aretz Correspondents and Reuters

The U.S. Embassy in Israel said Wednesday it was "not aware" of any evidence linking a Palestinian man with U.S. citizenship to Al-Qaida, after it emerged earlier in the day that the man had been deported by Israel last week for suspected links to Osama bin Laden's group.

Embassy spokesman Paul Patin said that according to the International Red Cross, Dr. Khaled Nazem Diab, who was deported to Jordan, works for the Qatari Red Crescent "and came here under their auspices."

The embassy, he added, "is not aware of any evidence linking him to Al- Qaida."

Farek Hussein, the director of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said Diab, 34, arrived in Israel on November 14, on a mission for the Qatari Red Crescent and the University of Missouri Trauma Center to train Palestinian social workers.

During his interrogation, which lasted several days and was carried out with FBI cooperation, Israeli sources said he revealed that he was a member of Islamic charity organizations that were transferring money to the Palestinian Authority.

Diab had worked at an American charity group called al-Najada, that was closed after the September 11 bombings on charges of transferring funds to terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaida. The head of al-Najada, Rabih Hadad, was recently arrested in the U.S., also on suspicion of transferring money to bin Laden's group.

In the past, Israeli sources said, Diab had stayed in Afghanistan, and had associated with sources affiliated with the Taliban. He is also suspected of being in constant contact with establishments affiliated with Hamas.

After the interrogation, acting on legal advice, Israel deported Diab to Jordan. Embassy officials were denied access to him during his interrogation.

In the past, attempts have been made to smuggle an Al-Qaida operatives into Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Two and a half years ago, Al-Qaida activist Nabil Okal was arrested at the Rafah border crossing between Israel and Egypt.

Okal was apparently sent to establish the organization's military wing in the territories. Richard Reid, the British national nicknamed the "shoe bomber," for trying to detonate explosives hidden in his shoes on a flight from Paris to Miami, said that he had visited Israel in the past as part of information gathering for Al-Qaida.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2002


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