Fear builds of violence reaching Europe

PARIS - Government officials and Jewish leaders are concerned that the conflict in Gaza may spill over into violence in Europe, with attacks reported against Jews and synagogues in France, Sweden, and Britain. Assailants rammed a burning car into the gates of a synagogue in Toulouse, in southwest France, Monday night. A Jewish congregation in Helsingborg, in southern Sweden, was attacked Monday night by someone who "broke a window and threw in something that was burning," said police spokesman Leif Nilsson. And on Sunday, slogans, including "murderers . . . You broke the cease-fire," were daubed on Israel's embassy in Stockholm. In Denmark, a 27-year-old Dane born in Lebanon to Palestinian parents is alleged to have injured two young Israelis last week in a shooting police suspect could be linked to the Gaza crisis. Belgium ordered police in Antwerp and Brussels to be on increased state of alert yesterday after recent pro-Palestinian protests ended in violence and arrests. President Nicolas Sarkozy warned in a statement yesterday that France would not tolerate violence linked to the Gaza crisis. A day earlier, his interior minister said she met with the heads of the two main Muslim and Jewish groups and police officials to stress the need to "preserve national unity."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAIRO - Al Qaeda's number two leader lashed out at President-elect Barack Obama in a new audio message yesterday, accusing him of not doing anything to stop Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to an intelligence monitoring center. The recording, purportedly by Ayman al-Zawahiri, was Al Qaeda's first comments on the Gaza crisis since Israel launched its offensive against the Islamic militants of Hamas on Dec. 27. In the comments, which were posted on a militant website and obtained by the SITE Monitoring Service, Zawahiri described Israel's actions in Gaza as a "crusade against Islam and Muslims" and called it "Obama's gift to Israel" before he takes office later this month. "This is Obama whom the American machine of lies tried to portray as the rescuer who will change the policy of America," Zawahiri said, according to SITE. "He kills your brothers and sisters in Gaza mercilessly and without affection." Zawahiri, who is Egyptian, also criticized Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, calling him a "traitor" for keeping Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip closed since Hamas seized power.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARACAS - Venezuela ordered the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and some embassy staff yesterday to protest Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The decision by President Hugo Chávez, a longtime critic of US and Israeli policy, to kick out the diplomats appeared to be the strongest reaction yet to the Gaza offensive by any country with ties to Israel. Venezuela's Foreign Ministry announced the move in a statement, saying it "has decided to expel the Israeli ambassador and part of the personnel of the Israeli embassy." Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said its UN mission is joining with other countries in demanding the Security Council "apply urgent and necessary measures to stop this invasion." Chávez earlier condemned the Israelis carrying out the military campaign as "murderers" and urged Jews in Venezuela to take a stand against the Israeli government. "Now I hope that the Venezuelan Jewish community speaks out against this barbarism. Do it. Don't you strongly reject all acts of persecution?" Chávez said. "How far will this barbarism go?" he said in an appearance on state television. "The president of Israel should be taken before an international court together with the president of the United States, if the world had any conscience."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DUBAI - A former aide to Saddam Hussein said in an audio tape aired yesterday that Israel would not have dared to launch its current attack on Gaza if the Iraqi leader was still in power. But Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the most senior member of the past regime still at large, said on the recording broadcast by Al Jazeera television that Iraqi insurgents would negotiate with Washington if the administration of President-elect Barack Obama withdrew from Iraq. "The barbaric . . . attack on our [Arab] people in Gaza is the natural result of the absence of Iraq, its national leadership and its leader . . . the martyr Saddam Hussein," said Ibrahim, a leader of Iraqi insurgents. The authenticity of the recording could not be verified.

REUTERS

UNITED NATIONS - France and Turkey said yesterday they were willing to contribute to an international monitoring team for a cease-fire in Gaza. "International monitoring mechanisms might prove necessary and we are willing to contribute to this," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told a session of the UN Security Council. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan also said his country would be prepared to contribute monitors.

REUTERS