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| Terror Networks |
| Binny sez attack US, UK, and Pakistan |
| 2004-08-11 |
| Osama bin Laden has called for attacks on targets in the United States and Britain, Pakistani intelligence sources have said, but it is not clear if his appeal was accompanied by more detailed orders. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, played down a report on Wednesday in the Washington Times that a tape from bin Laden may surface soon that would act as a signal for planned attacks to be launched. The newspaper, citing U.S. intelligence officials, said al Qaeda would target an American or foreign leader either within the United States or abroad. Pakistani intelligence agencies have been questioning key al Qaeda figures captured in the last month in a crackdown that has yielded a wealth of information about the network's personnel and plots to strike targets inside the country and abroad. They include Tanzanian Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, wanted for the attacks on U.S. embassies in east Africa in 1998, Qari Saifullah Akhtar, a key al Qaeda operational chief in Pakistan, and computer engineer Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan. "Osama has given the go ahead to target important places and personalities in the U.S., U.K. and Pakistan," one Pakistani intelligence source said. Khan's laptop computer has proved a treasure trove of information on al Qaeda's plans to launch attacks, including in the United States and on Heathrow airport. He was believed to have acted as a communications middleman between operatives in remote areas of Pakistan and those in Europe and the United States. Despite claiming a major breakthrough in its war on al Qaeda and allied local militant groups, Pakistan is concerned that the crackdown resulting in the arrests of around 20 of the network's operatives will trigger a violent backlash. Extra checkpoints have been set up in the capital Islamabad and several cabinet ministers have been told to restrict their movements. Pakistan celebrates independence day on Saturday. Further details emerged on alleged contacts between Ghailani and bin Laden, believed by U.S. officials to be hiding somewhere along the rugged and porous Afghan-Pakistan frontier. Some experts question how able bin Laden is to coordinate live operations, since he is unlikely to be using satellite communications and is on the run from tens of thousands of U.S. and Pakistan troops in the region. Pakistani intelligence officials say Ghailani admits he saw bin Laden in 2002 and last had contact with him in June, 2003. Ghailani was in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal area in June, when Pakistani forces launched a major offensive on foreign militants and local tribal allies and he was forced to flee. He went to Gujarat, a city 175 km (110 miles) southeast of Islamabad, where he was captured by authorities last month after a fierce gunbattle. The officials said Pakistan has learned Ghailani had been training suicide bombers in Gujarat for several weeks with a view to attacking the military airbase at Chaklala, near the capital, and Islamabad airport. Khan has revealed that Abu Musa al-Hindi, known as Abu Eisa al-Hindi, an al Qaeda suspect seized by police in Britain earlier this month, was in charge of carrying out attacks on the United States and Britain. "They selected many targets in these countries," said an intelligence official. "They wanted to create chaotic conditions in the U.S. during the elections. They had planned a series of terrorist activities in the United States." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #4 how does a spot on a cave wall issue a statement? |
| Posted by: spiffo 2004-08-11 17:02 |
| #3 Article: The newspaper, citing U.S. intelligence officials, said al Qaeda would target an American or foreign leader either within the United States or abroad. For a Muslim, this represents a high degree of clarity and specificity. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-08-11 16:24 |
| #2 Binny I thought you were in a cave in Afghanistan, but when I heard about this deep cave in Croatia, yesterday, I am reasessing my guess is to where you are, especially since they found so many Leeches in the Croatian cave. Look, you still need dialysis for your kidneys. Leeches won't help. And if you do try anything wierd, - - well if you thought Tora Bora rattled your nerves, you ain't seen nothin' yet! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-08-11 16:15 |
| #1 oh binny, when will you grow up, oh sorry your dead. well we hope |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2004-08-11 16:05 |