"Underneath the lantern,
By the barracks gate,
I would meet Fatimah
Every night at eight..." |
A suspected 11 September conspirator who is being hunted by police worldwide has e-mailed his wife in Germany to say he will never "bow to infidels" by surrendering. German-born Said Bahaji, 29, e-mailed his Hamburg wife Nese to reject her repeated entreaties for him to surrender to authorities, said the report in Monday's Der Spiegel news magazine. "I am convinced it would be a huge mistake for me to return," he wrote in the e-mail dated 20 July. Dismissing assurances by German authorities that he would face a fair and objective trail, Bahaji wrote his wife, "Believe me, they will not handle me in a fair and just manner."
| Or maybe he's afraid they will... |
At any rate, he added that his religious faith prevented him from surrendering to secular authorities. "My Moslem faith would never permit me to bow to infidels," he wrote. Instead of returning to Germany, he told her, "My sole concern is how I can get you and Omar (their son) out of that godless country." German investigators believe Bahaji was the "logistician" of an eight-man cell in Hamburg that devised the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington and went to Afghanistan to obtain helpers and funding from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Three died as suicide pilots, three suspects are in custody and Bahaji and Zakariya es-Sabar, 27, also Moroccan, are still at large. Bahaji, who is believed to be in hiding in the Pakistan- Afghanistan border region, has been in regular contact with his wife and with his parents via e-mail and by phone.
| Keep phoning home, Bahaji. It's safe, trust me |
Clearly aware that investigators have tapped into his communications, Bahaji at times has even made joking references to his "party line listeners" during calls to his family.
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