The Hindu : International / Globescan : Al-Qaeda "threat" to Vatican

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Friday, Aug 26, 2005

International

International - Globescan

Al-Qaeda "threat" to Vatican

MADRID/ROME: The Italian authorities are investigating a fax, allegedly signed by Al-Qaeda, which makes veiled threats against the Vatican. The three-page document, written in Arabic, accuses the Vatican of supporting ``the capitalist countries'' who joined the war in Iraq and justifies terror attacks in Britain and Spain as ``self defence against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan.'' The fax was sent in Barcelona to the offices of the Spanish conservative daily newspaper ABC and to a Spanish television station. The Interior Ministry in Rome confirmed that it had been informed of the contents of the fax. The Vatican refused to comment. The threats are bound to increase nerves in Italy, which has long feared it could be the next European country to be targeted by Islamists because of the Government's support of the Iraq war. Italy maintains the third-largest contingent of U.S.-led troops in Iraq. The fax, which is also being investigated by Spanish police, criticises the Vatican for its alleged support of the invasion of Iraq. The final paragraph reads: ``In the war in Iraq, the Vatican has supported capitalist countries who are only interested in Iraqi oil. The leaders of those countries will reap the harvest of their support and their killings.'' ABC had received a credible Al-Qaeda threat by fax on April 3 2004, the same day seven authors of the Madrid attacks blew themselves up in a police raid. Police believe that fax was written by one of the supposed terrorists who committed suicide. A large part of the text received on Monday appears under the heading ``the workings of the Vatican'' and describes the Vatican's relationship with Nazi Germany, citing what appear to be passages copied from books and a newspaper article from 1941, police sources told ABC.

— © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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