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| Terror Networks |
| Al-Qaida Grp Offers Hungarian Troops MoneyTo Quit Iraq, Threaten Families |
| 2004-04-08 |
| A group claiming to have ties with al-Qaida offered Hungarian soldiers up to $100,000 if they leave Iraq in a letter published Thursday, but threatened their families if they stay. The "Special Task Force of the Hungarian al-Qaida" said soldiers returning by May 1 would be paid through a transfer from a "secure European bank." Soldiers staying in Iraq beyond May 1 "will have a great sadness," and their families would be harmed, said the letter, appearing in the daily Magyar Hirlap. "We are obliged to see the enemy in every invading soldier, including the Hungarian ones." Hungarian police and intelligence services were investigating the letter, police spokesman Laszlo Garamvolgyi said, without elaborating. In the two-page letter full of grammatical mistakes, the group also said there were "loyal Islam soldiers and a lot of explosives in Budapest." The letter warned that the group would blow up the parliament building, churches, schools, synagogues and train stations unless the Hungarian soldiers left Iraq. Hungary has 300 troops stationed in Iraq carrying out transportation duties for coalition forces under Polish command. They were deployed in September 2003 and have a mandate from Parliament to stay in Iraq until the end of 2004. The government has said it would be willing to consider extending the troops’ mission into 2005. "The situation in Iraq is deteriorating, but we are doing everything to ensure the safety of the Hungarian soldiers," Defense Minister Ferenc Juhasz said Thursday. |
| Posted by:TS |