ANSAR, SALAFIST CITED AS AL QAIDA ALLIES

LONDON [MENL] -- Ansar Al Islam and the Salafist Brigade for Call and Combathave been cited as the leading insurgency subcontractors for Al Qaida. Leading experts said Al Qaida uses both of these Middle East groups forrecruitment and training of suicide attackers. They said these groups havelinks to sleepers in the Middle East and Western Europe and could have beenemployed for Al Qaida's attempt to down a Western passenger airliner overthe New Year holiday.