The concern of German officials that Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi may try to direct a chemical attack in their country is likely mirrored by other European countries, as signs from recent history portend a clear possibility of an attempt to carry out such an attack.

These start with Zarqawi?s personal history. The Jordanian terrorist is among the Afghan Arabs who trained in al-Qaeda ?s camps in Afghanistan , where he focused on chemicals and poisons. He then opened a training camp of his own near Herat, Afghanistan that specialized in these disciplines. Zarqawi also facilitated the movement of a number of Jordanians, Palestinians, and Syrians to Afghanistan to be trained at his and other camps. Those who participated were known as Zarqawi?s Jund al-Sham, or ?Soldiers from the Levant.? After the invasion of Afghanistan, some of these men returned to the Levant countries from which they had come; some went to Iraq ; and some are known to have gone to Europe.