India-Forums.TV

[fiza]

BRASILIA: Al-Qaida operatives are in Brazil planning attacks, raising money and recruiting followers, a news magazine reported on Saturday, renewing concerns about the nation serving as a hide-out for Islamic militants.

Veja magazine, in its online edition, reported that at least 20 people affiliated with al Qaida as well as the Lebanese Shia Muslim group Hezbollah, the Palestinian group Hamas and two other organizations have been hiding out in the South American country.

The magazine said these operatives have been raising money and working to incite attacks abroad. The magazine cited Brazilian police and US government reports, but did not give details on specific targets or operations.

The United States has said Islamic militants have been operating in the border region between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

Brazil has denied this, while saying it is aware that some members of Brazil's Lebanese community legally transferred funds to the Middle East.

Veja reported that a Lebanese man named Khaled Hussein Ali, who has lived in Brazil since 1998, is an important member of al-Qaida's propaganda operation and has coordinated extremists in 17 countries.

Ali was briefly arrested in Brazil in March 2009 after a police investigation that found videos and texts directed at al-Qaida followers. He was set free because prosecutors did not pursue the charges against him in court, Veja said.