Al Qaeda at work in Libyan city of Derna?

Is the Libyan city of Derna a gateway for terrorists?

It's an unlikely common ground of suspicion, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey. Some U.S. officials worry it could be al Qaeda's toehold in the country, while Muammar Qaddafi has made claims that the city is a well-spring of Islamic fighters opposing his regime.

But Derna's leading Quranic scholar, imam Mukhtar El-Jimaey, says both are wrong.

He told Pizzey, "I swear that, I swear, means I swear with Allah, there is no Qaeda in Libya."

But at least 50 al Qaeda volunteers from Derna were picked up by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and a Libyan contingent fought with the al Qaeda faction in Iraq. They were allegedly recruited by Abdul Hakim El-Hassadi, who is from Derna. El-Hassadi admits fighting in Afghanistan, but says he's joined the revolt against Qaddafi.

Derna, Pizzey noted, has a history of resisting the Libyan dictator and has paid a high price. Poverty is more evident than in other towns, and its citizens always suspect.

One of the residents there, Ahmed Sheikh, spent 15 years in jail. He told CBS News, "I was accused of being affiliated with a clandestine party. I know nothing about this party."

Islam is deeply ingrained in Derna, Pizzey said. The 300 year-old Rashid mosque is always packed during Friday prayers, but the imam says Libyans are conservative - not radical.

Scholar El- Jimaey said, "We don't need al Qaeda. Why we ask the NATO? We don't say al Qaeda, and ask Qaeda to help us. No."

Pizzey reported no one in Derna CBS News spoke to denied that young men from Derna went to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight on the side of radical Islam. But, he said, they we equally adamant that al Qaeda has no chance of putting down roots in the city.

That may be, Pizzey said, but several young men who did not want to be photographed told a translator for CBS News, "Don't take the journalists too many places. They could be CIA spies."

Pizzey asked men in the city, "Qaddafi keeps saying that al Qaeda is with you guys. What do you say to that?"

One man responded, "No. There is no Qaeda here."

Another said, "No. No Qaeda."

Pizzey's team filmed two men from Derna in dust masks. Pizzey said, "Their makeshift dust masks make them look more like extras from a 'Mad Max' film than crack jihadis from Osama bin Laden's cave."

Pizzey added, "The seeds al Qaeda likes to grow are here, whether they are flowering depends on who you believe."

For more on possible al Qaeda activity in the country and the city of Derna, "The Early Show" spoke with CBS News National Security Analyst Juan Zarate.

Zarate told co-anchor Chris Wragge no evidence has surfaced that shows al Qaeda is the core of the Libyan rebellion.

But, he added, "That said, there is a history of al Qaeda's movement and allure in Libya. Groups like the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, historically, and the groups like al Qaeda and the Islamic Maghreb in North Africa all have roots in Libya. As well, you have core al Qaeda leaders that have come out of Libya. ... A big contingent of foreign fighters in Iraq came from eastern Libya. So there are the roots there historically. We just don't see it yet in the rebellion."

As for the U.S., Zarate said the region remains a concern for U.S. officials.

He said, "(It) explains why officials are working very hard to try to understand who forms part of the rebellion, who forms part of the Transitional National Council for Libya. This is a remaining concern, not knowing quite what is behind all aspects of the rebellion. I think this is why the U.S. has been more cautious about recognizing this council, as well as arming the rebellion."

Zarate said he doubts claims that the source of unrest in Libya is from al Qaeda.

"I'm not sure that's credible coming from Qaddafi," Zarate said.

U.S. officials, he said, are less concerned that the rebellion is being driven by al Qaeda. He said ongoing chaos and ongoing conflict in the region is the bigger worry.

"(Continued unrest) actually provides breathing space for al Qaeda then to operate in," he said. "The group in North Africa, for example, can take advantage of arms flows in the region. So that, I think, is a real concern - that the chaos will be taken advantage of by al Qaeda and re-energize the networks in North Africa."