Jihad in Switzerland

"Switzerland likely was used as a base for financial and logistical support for al-Qaida." From AP, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

GENEVA (AP) -- Swiss investigators have established a link between at least three Arabs detained in a nationwide anti-terror sweep and a purported key al-Qaida member, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The Geneva daily Le Temps said it obtained a copy of a document written by Deputy Federal Prosecutor Claude Nicati in which he detailed his case against 10 people arrested in raids since December and ordered the launch of preliminary judicial proceedings. Five suspects have been released but remain under investigation.

Swiss justice authorities routinely decline to comment on media reports or give details of ongoing investigations, and prosecutor's office spokeswoman Andrea Sadecky told The Associated Press she could not comment.

"All I can say is that we regret the report has been made public," she said.

In June, Swiss Federal Prosecutor Valentin Roschacher said investigators had concluded that Switzerland likely was used as a base for financial and logistical support for al-Qaida.

According to Le Temps, Nicati's report said two suspects arrested in Switzerland - both originally from Yemen - were in "close contact with several hardcore members of bin Laden's movement."

The report cited the name Abdallah al-Kini and described him as an "operational al-Qaida agent" involved in the October 2000 attack on the destroyer USS Cole off Yemen, which killed 17 American sailors.

Al-Kini, who has not been mentioned previously by Yemeni anti-terror investigators, currently is detained there, the report said.