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Venezuela accused of al-Qaeda link ...
Via UPI. Youâre take would be helpful on this, Fred, if itâs true itâs pretty damning stuff.Venezuelan President Hugo Chavezâs government is protecting suspected members of al-Qaida and other militant groups by providing them with false identities, former officials of his Interior Ministry told United Press International. Gen. Marcos Ferreira, who headed the Departamento de Extranjeria, or DIEX, which is responsible for keeping records on foreigners, told UPI thousands of fraudulent Venezuelan identities were issued to members of known terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, on orders from top officials in Chavezâs government. Keep in mind that with new identities most Arabs can safely pass as Hispanics. By tracing redundant ID numbers, intelligence officials said 3,799 fraudulent documents were issued between 2000 and 2002. The largest batch of 2,520 were given to Colombians and the second-largest category of 279 went to individuals of Middle Eastern origin, invariably described in Venezuelan Interior Ministry computer records as Syrians. The Colombians are likely FARC gunnies, but that still makes over 200 al-Qaeda and Hezbollah operatives in-country. Ferreira said he forwarded an FBI request for surveillance on Hakim Mohammed al-Diab Fatah -- a Venezuelan-Arab who is believed to be linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington -- to his bosses in the Interior Ministry. Although Venezuelan authorities denied any knowledge of the suspect, Ferreira said DISIP picked up al-Diab Fatah directly from the plane on which he arrived from the United States on March 8, 2002. He wasnât taken through any immigration checks so his identity could be laundered, he said. Security officials, meanwhile, told UPI Afghan mullahs connected to the Taliban also entered Venezuela in 2002. Their local contact was Tariq Williams Saab, who heads the ruling Venezuelan Revolutionary Movementâs International Relations Committee. He is also suspected to be involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. Thatâs a new name for me. If he was in on 9/11 and Chavez is protecting him, then he needs to fry, end of story. Saab is said to have met with two members of the Irish Republican Army who visited the country en route to Colombia where they were held in 2001 for their links with left-wing rebel groups in that country. No clue how to judge the veracity of this, but if itâs true itâs pretty damning. Posted by: Dan Darling 2003-10-10 |
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