COALITION NAVY DETAINS AL QAIDA IN GULF

ABU DHABI [MENL] -- The U.S.-led coalition has detained about 125 suspectedAl Qaida agents as well as weapons in the Gulf in 2005 The Al Qaida agents were said to have been captured on wooden boatsstopped by the British and U.S. Navy in the Gulf over the last 11 weeks. Theboats, called dhows, were used for smuggling Al Qaida operatives, theirweapons as well as drugs. Bob Newman, director of international security and counter-terrorismservices at the Denver-based GeoScope Group, said the Al Qaida operativeswere not planning attacks against Gulf Cooperation Council states. Newman, acontractor for the U.S. military in the war against Al Qaida, said the boatswere transporting operatives and goods as part of logistics missions for AlQaida and drug smugglers.