Israel's Military Chief of Staff warned Tuesday against Al Qaeda attempts to recruit Saudi pilots that would take off from the Tabouk air base, which is relatively close to Israel, with the aim of carrying out attacks such as those committed on September 11, 2001.
According to the Yediot Aharonot daily, army chief Moshe Ya'alon said Israel was concerned about the possibility that Saudi F-15 pilots, based in Tabouk, would carry out such missions on behalf of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network.
Ya'alon told a conference held near Tel Aviv that "From interrogations the United States is conducting with al Qaeda detainees, we know that the network is trying to recruit Saudi pilots to carry out aerial suicide missions against Israel, similar to the September 11 attacks on US cities".
According to Ya'alon, "Such an attack may be carried out by an F-15 plane or a civilian plane originating from the Tabouk air base."
Last week, Israel's Army Radio reported that Israel had asked Washington to pressure Saudi Arabia to remove dozens of F-15 aircraft from the Tabouk air base to distant air bases. Saudi Arabia, however, had denied it was under US pressure to withdraw the fighters. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
