A Jordanian security official said al-Qaida is seeking to recruit Palestinian factions in Lebanon's southern refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh.

The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat quoted the official, who was not identified, as saying "Qaida representatives are in Lebanon at present and they are trying to establish contact with these groups based in Ain al-Hilweh."

These alleged Qaida representatives have held contacts with "certain persons in Europe, the Gulf and Iraq through self-styled post offices that had been recently set up by Qaida to replace telephone contacts that are being monitored by international security agencies," the report added.

An undisclosed number of Qaida operatives "headed from Iraq to Lebanon last year, including 25 Jordanians and a number of Yemenis, Saudis and others who hold European citizenships," according to the report.

It said "most of them managed to reach Ain al-Hilweh camp by acquiring forged identification documents or by infiltrating into the camp."

Moving into the camp, which is the largest center of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon near the southern coastal city of Sidon, is usually done through "intermediaries living outside the camp but have contacts with some marginal groups operating in Ain al-Hilweh," the report added.

It said the alleged information coincided with an escalation in the rhetoric by Qaida's second in command Ayman Zawahri, which led observers to "express concern that the infiltration of these operatives into an area close to Hizbullah's influence might raise the prospects of sectarian collision in the area."

The Jordanian security official also said some members of the Fatah al-Islam group have managed to escape the Nahr al-Bared camp in north Lebanon and re-based in Ain al-Hilweh.

"They have resided in districts close to the areas of influence of both the Ansar League and Jund al-Sham," the official said.

Such newcomers to Ain al-Hilweh include "an official of Fatah al-Islam who is not the group's leader Shaker Abssi," he added.

He said the Qaida fighters who had allegedly arrived from Iraq pose a threat to "sectarian stability" in Lebanon "in light of Lebanon's weak security agencies and Hizbullah's major influence."

"I fear the outbreak of a sectarian war sparked by those in Lebanon. I expect possible operations (attacks) against Hizbulllah or other Shiite groups," he concluded.