The Girl in Black

Chapter 5

Gabriel lived and worked for several years in Venice under the name Mario Delveccio. Six months ago he was forced to leave the city after he was discovered by a Palestinian terrorist named Khaled al-Khalifa. The case ended at Lyon station, and as a result Gabriel"s name and secret past appeared in the French and European press, including articles calling him "Israel"s Angel of Death." . He is still wanted for questioning by the Paris police, and the Palestinian civil rights group has filed a lawsuit against him in London alleging war crimes.

"Have you really met Massoudi?" Shamron asked in disbelief. "Did you shake his hand?"

"In the guise of Mario Delveccio, of course."

"I assume you don"t know you"re shaking the hand of a terrorist."

Shamron brought the pill to his lips and turned on the lighter. This time Gabriel didn"t stop him.

“Three months ago we received advice from a friend at GID 1 in Jordan, Professor Ali Massoudi, that great moderate and reformer was in fact a brilliant al-Qaeda scout. . According to the Jordanians, he was recruiting people to attack Israeli and Jewish targets in Europe. Peace conferences and anti-Israel protests are his favorite hunting grounds. We are not surprised by this either. We have known peace conferences as meeting places for al-Qaeda spies and European extremists of both the left and the right. We decided it was wise to follow Professor Massoudi. We tapped the phone in his Bremen apartment, but the results were disappointing. He is very careful when talking on the phone. About a month later, the London station provided a very timely message. It appears that the Cultural section of the Embassy in London was asked to send an important person to the Forum on Policy on Peace and Security in Palestine, Iraq and other countries. When the department asked for a list of attendees, who would you guess appeared on the list?”

"Professor Ali Massoudi".

“The Culture Department agreed to send a representative to the workshop, and the Task Force put Massoudi in the spotlight.”

“What is the Task Force planning to do?”

“Simple,” said Shamron. “Caught him in the act. Compromise with him. Threaten him. Persuade him to cooperate. Can you imagine? With an employee like Massoudi installed in al-Qaeda"s personnel department. With Massoudi"s help, we can turn their European network upside down."

“So what happened?”

“We used the beauty scheme on Massoudi. She called herself Hamida al-Tatari. But her real name is Avita, from Ramat Gan, however this has nothing to do with what happened to Massoudi. She met Massoudi at the reception. Massoudi was intrigued and agreed to meet with her that evening to further discuss the current state of the world. We had Massoudi followed after the last session of the conference, but apparently Massoudi noticed someone was following him and started running. He looked in the wrong direction as he crossed Euston Street and stepped out in front of the truck.”

Gabriel grimaced.

"Luckily we didn"t leave empty-handed," Shamron said. “The follower obtained Massoudi"s briefcase, which contained a laptop. It seems that Professor Ali Massoudi is more than a talented target-finder.”

Shamron placed the file in front of Gabriel, and nodded to Gabriel to open it. Inside he saw several stacks of photographs: St Peter"s Square from a dozen different angles; exterior and interior of the great cathedral; The Swiss Guard stands guard at the Arch of Bells. Obviously these photos were not taken by an ordinary tourist, because the photographer did not pay much attention to the beauty of the Vatican but more to the security measures around the place. There are several shots of barricades along the western edge of the square and metal detectors along Bernini"s colonnades - and a few more shots of guards and police patrolling along the square when there are gatherings. practice many people, including close-up photos of weapons worn on people. The last three photos show Pope Paul VII greeting the crowd in St Peter"s Square in a glass-covered car. The lens was not pointed at the sacred Bishop but at the plainclothes Swiss bodyguards walking beside his car.

Gabriel looked back at the pictures. Based on the quality of light and the clothes the pilgrims wore, it can be seen that the pictures were taken on three occasions. You know, the way of monitoring by photos many times with the same goal shows that this is a serious operation of al-Qaeda. He closed the file and handed it back to Shamron, but Shamron did not reach out to accept it, Gabriel studied his face with the same concentration as he had seen in the photographs. He could see there was still bad news about to be revealed.

"Technology also found something else on Massoudi"s laptop," Shamron said. “Instructions to get into a numbered bank account in Zurich – an account we have been paying attention to for some time because of regular remittances from an organization called the Al-Quds Liberation Committee” 1.

"Who owns this account?". Gabriel asked.

“Saudi Arabia,” Shamron said. “More specifically, the Saudi Interior Minister, Prince Nabil.”

In The Office, Prince Nabil is often referred to by the nickname Prince of the Night because of his hatred of Israel and America as well as his support for militant Muslims.

“Nabil established the committee at the height of the second uprising,” Shamron continued. “He raised the funds himself and personally oversaw the donation. We believe he currently has one hundred million dollars at his disposal, and is funding some of the most violent terrorist groups in the world, including elements of al-Qaeda."

"Who gave Nabil the money?"

“Unlike other Saudi charities, the as-Quds Liberation Committee has relatively few donors. We think Nabil raised money from a few Saudi millionaires.”

Shamron stared at his coffee for a moment. “Charity,” he said, his voice scornful. “A beautiful name, isn"t it? But charity in Saudi Arabia is always a double-edged sword. The Muslim World Federation, the International Islamic Relief, the al-Haramayn Islam, the International Charities - they have the same role for Saudi Arabia as the Communist International III has for the former Soviet Union. . In fact, they are all means of Islamic p********a. But they do not propagate all types of Islam but only pay attention to the Saudi branch of Puritan Islam and Wahhabiism. Charities build mosques and Islamic centers around the world, and Islamic academies train future Wahhabi warriors. These organizations also give money directly to terrorists, including our Hamas friends. America"s machines run on Saudi oil, and the global Islamic terrorist network runs largely on Saudi money."