Al Qaeda Advancing As Obama Retreats.

Lebanese security sources said an Al Qaida network in Lebanon had planned major attacks throughout the Arab world. It recruited operatives, relayed financing and orders for major strikes in the Levant and Gulf. The sourc of the finances were not described.

“They (AQI) sought to destabilize Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gulf countries including Kuwait,” Lebanese Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Jean Kahwaji said.

Kahwaji, during a tour of the Gulf, reported that the Al Qaida network was captured by Lebanese authorities. He did not provide details. “We busted a huge Al Qaida network,” Kahwaji said during his visit to Kuwait on June 14..

This marked the first report of an Al Qaida network in Lebanon in 2009. Last year, Lebanese sources reported Al Qaida activity in Lebanon and Syria, including bombings of Lebanese Army troops around the city of Tripoli.

The security sources said Syria has demanded tighter border security along the northern Lebanon border to block the flow of Al Qaida operatives. They said the Al Qaida presence in Lebanon was believed to comprise more than 200 operatives in the Palestinian refugee camps of Ein Hilwe and Naher Bard.

“We have fought against terror in Lebanon, and I can affirm that we have broken its back and succeeded in uncovering people dealing with it,” Kahwaji said.

Al Qaida was also believed to have been using Bahrain as a hub for operations throughout the Gulf.

Bahraini security sources said Al Qaida operatives in Manama received instructions from Al Qaida leaders in nearby Iran.

“We believe that Al Qaida was using the kingdom for operations within and outside Bahrain,” a security source said.

So far, two Bahraini nationals have been charged with membership in a terrorist organization, believed to be Al Qaida. The Bahraini defendants, arrested on April 26, were said to have planned strikes in Bahrain. Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

“The two suspects confessed that they had sought to contact elements of the terrorist organization in Iran and to coordinate with other elements in Kuwait to carry out attacks on foreign interests in Bahrain,” Bahrain’s public prosecutor said in a statement.

The two alleged operatives, scheduled to go on trial on June 30, were identified as Sunni Muslims in their 20s. Bahraini security forces were said to have found weapons and ammunition in the homes of the suspects, one of them a government employee.

“This is a case of young men in their twenties who are deeply religious,” defense attorney Abdullah Hashem said. “They do not belong to any party or organization, rather are simply enthusiastic in their feelings.”

Bahrain, a Sunni kingdom with a Shi’ite majority, has come under increasing Iranian pressure over the last two years. Manama has also served as a gateway to neighboring Saudi Arabia, also battling a Sunni insurgency directed by elements in Iran.

The disclosures come as Iran has been headlined worldwide for rioting after its disputed presidential election and its harsh handling of desentors. How much AQI has been emboldened as Obama backs away is hotly debated.