27/11/2009 Lebanese Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi has said al-Qaida network does not constitute a real threat to Lebanon adding that local criminal or Gulf sources are funding terrorist groups in the country.
 
Al-Qaida "hasn't been entrenched in Lebanon. It seems that al-Qaida does not consider our land a land of Jihad," Rifi told France's Defense magazine.
 
"We could sometimes find in Lebanon groupings that adopt al-Qaida's ideas but without any ties with it," the ISF chief said, adding the reason behind it was the openness of Sunni Lebanese on the west, a move that prevents planting the terror network's ideology in Lebanon.
 
About the financial support of terrorist groups in Lebanon, Rifi told the magazine that the funding was from "local criminal or Gulf sources." "Some groups fund themselves through criminal activities such as bank robberies and human trafficking," he said. "However, as a big number of reports indicate, other groups get funding from Arab Gulf countries."
 
"When I say the Gulf I don't necessarily mean the governments. I mean private parties that sponsor their networks," The ISF chief said.  


(Naharnet)