3 active jihadists in American training class under way
At least three active terrorists are taking part in a U.S.-run military training course currently underway in the Middle East, according to the author of a new book.
WND's Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein, author of the recently released "Schmoozing with Terrorists," said yesterday he discovered the terrorists are enrolled at a U.S. course in the West Bank city of Jericho that is training about 300 members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah security forces.
The U.S. has been running bases in the West Bank City of Jericho to train Fatah militias since the late 1990s. Over the years, the U.S. also has provided Fatah militias with arms, reportedly including thousands of high-powered assault rifles during the past year alone.  
In August, the State Department announced the U.S. will begin new training courses for Fatah militias in an effort to bolster Abbas against Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip in June when the terror group easily defeated American-backed Fatah forces in the territory.
The U.S. training programs include courses in the use of weapons. They are being partially funded with a $86.5 million grant approved by Congress in April.
The Bush administration announced yesterday it is seeking nearly $500 million in additional aid to the Palestinians.
Klein said he learned yesterday that at least three terrorists are enrolled at a U.S.-run course currently underway in Jericho. The terrorists are mid-level members of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group who are being eyed for more senior positions. They include the cousin of a Brigades chief in the West Bank city of Nablus and the cousin's brother, Klein said.
Both the cousin and his brother are usually based in Nablus, the Brigades' stronghold. The two are members of a Brigades cell that carried out four suicide bombings inside Israel, including a 2006 attack in Tel Aviv that killed nine Israelis and American teenager Daniel Wultz. The militants held junior roles in Brigades attacks, such as hiding and transporting explosives, the sources told Klein.
The two cousins of the Brigades chief and a third lower-level Brigades member received training in Egypt last month. They arrived in Jericho for U.S. training earlier this month and are slated to depart for Jordan in two weeks for further training there, after which they will return to Nablus, Klein learned.
In "Schmoozing," Klein details how the U.S. has been arming, training, funding and coordinating security with members of Fatah's Force 17 and the Preventative Security Services who are also Brigades leaders.
Klein also documents how terrorists, including chief of the Brigades in Ramallah, are among the official team that receives and distributes American weapons shipped to Palestinians.
The Brigades, Fatah's so-called military wing, took credit along with the Islamic Jihad terror group for every suicide bombing in Israel between 2005 and 2006.
The Brigades is responsible for more terrorism from the West Bank than any other Palestinian Arab organization, carrying out thousands of shootings and grenade attacks.
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