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Bush: escalating threat from Shi'ite extremists

24 Jan 2007 02:23:21 GMT
Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Tuesday warned of an "escalating danger" from Shi'ite extremists that he said was as big a threat to the United States as al Qaeda.

In his annual State of the Union speech to Congress, Bush said there was a much clearer view of the nature of the enemy in the years since the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. targets by al Qaeda.

He said al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who has not yet been found by U.S. forces, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq who was killed by U.S. forces, and their Sunni extremist followers were just one camp in the Islamist radical movement.

"In recent times, it has also become clear that we face an escalating danger from Shia (Shi'ite) extremists who are just as hostile to America, and are also determined to dominate the Middle East," Bush said in a prepared text of his remarks.

"Many are known to take direction from the regime in Iran, which is funding and arming terrorists like Hezbollah -- a group second only to al Qaeda in the American lives it has taken," Bush said.

"The Shia (Shi'ite) and Sunni extremists are different faces of the same totalitarian threat," he said.

Bush and his administration have accused Iran of fueling instability in Iraq and have vowed to stop any such activity.

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Last updated:Wed Jan 24 02:24:42 2007