| The Lebanese Interior Minister denied having told Denmark about the presence of an Al-Qaeda cell in the Scandinavian country, allegedly closely linked to another Al-Qaeda group in Lebanon. A source at the interior ministry told AFP that Lebanon "has not informed the intelligence service of the Danish police about an alleged Al-Qaeda cell linked to the alleged Al-Qaeda members recently arrested in Lebanon." Danish public television reported on Thursday that Lebanon had passed along information and a request to investigate several people after uncovering a cell last month that was allegedly plotting to bomb the Italian embassy. The suspected leader of the Lebanese cell, Ismail Mohammed al-Khatib, told Lebanese interrogators he worked closely with Al-Qaeda cells in Denmark, Germany and Italy before dying in custody, a Danish interior ministry official told the television station. However, an official at the Danish foreign ministry, Peter Iversen, confirmed that "a request from Lebanese authorities to enquire about several people in Denmark" had been passed on to PET. A spokesman for the Danish intelligence service PET confirmed an investigation was under way, with no arrests having been made. Lebanese authorities have arrested 10 people including al-Khatib and are searching for another 20 believed link to the group with alleged links to Al-Qaeda. |