Al Qaeda in Argentina?

From the Inforid Americas Civic News Agency:

The Wiesenthal Center, international Jewish organization with more than 400,000 members worldwide, considers that the presence of groups related to the terrorist organization is alarming.

(InfoRID, September 5, 2005).- The Simon Wiesenthal Center considered that the presence in Argentina of members of the Jamaat Tabligh group, linked to the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, is alarming. The information, published in La Nación newspaper on September 2, states that during the last seven months, twenty six members of Jamaat Tabligh traveled to Argentina with the aim of recruiting volunteers to carry out terrorist acts in different parts of the world.

Shimon Samuels and Sergio Widder, Director of Corporate Relations and Representative of the Wiesenthal Center for Latin America respectively, addressed a letter to the Argentine Minister of the Interior, Anibal Fernandez, stating the Center's concern about the presence of groups settled in the country and urged for an energetic response on the part of authorities.

The letter says: "Dear Minister, Argentina has suffered from fundamentalist terrorism during the last decade, with the attacks on the Embassy of Israel and against the AMIA. We urge you to intensify migration controls in order to prevent the entry of people seeking to abuse the Argentine democratic liberties with the aim of endangering the citizens of this country and using this territory as a platform to perpetrate acts of terror in other latitudes", Samuels and Widder stated.

"The Wiesenthal Center embarked two years ago in an initiative that hast received the support of Pope John Paul II so that suicidal terrorism is considered a crime against humanity. Facing attacks of this type that have shocked the world in the last months, we believe it is timely that Argentina joins this campaign", they added.

"We also value the fact that leaders of the Argentine Muslim community have also warned the authorities about the presence of subjects who, shielded by their religious preaching, attempt to sow hatred and terror", they concluded.