(snip)
According to Faris’ admission, the operational leader then told Faris that al Qaeda was planning two simultaneous attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. The senior al Qaeda leader spoke with Faris about destroying a bridge in New York City by severing its suspension cables, and tasked Faris with obtaining the equipment needed for that operation - described as “gas cutters” but to be referred to as “gas stations” in future coded communications. The leader also explained that al Qaeda was planning to derail trains, and asked Faris to procure the tools for that plot as well.
to this : APRIL 2002 - MARCH 2003 : (OHIO TRUCKER/BROOKLYN BRIDGE CASE : FARIS SENDS CODED MESSAGE VIA ONE PERSON TO FRIEND IN PAKISTAN SAYING HE WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL IN OBTAINING EQUIPMENT) Between April 2002 and March 2003, Faris sent several coded messages through another individual to his longtime friend in Pakistan, indicating he had been unsuccessful in his attempts to obtained the necessary equipment. - "OHIO TRUCK DRIVER PLEADS GUILTY TO PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT TO AL QAEDA," Dept. of Justice press release, WWW.USDOJ.GOV , THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2003
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Mr. Ashcroft conceded that recent speculation, including some of his own, about a plot to simultaneously blow up U.S. gas stations grew from Faris' use of "gas stations" as a code word for the acetylene torch to be used for cutting the bridge cables but had not confirmed it. "That's an assumption. If you write that, you write that at your own peril, not me. But you know, that's the only gas cutter I know of," Mr. Ashcroft said yesterday. When asked about secrecy in this case and 15 others that remain sealed, Mr. Ashcroft said the Faris developments were kept secret to avoid "impairing very important interests." He gave no hint what interests were involved nor would he discuss whether any other recent arrests were related to the Faris case. - "U.S. citizen secretly pleads guilty to scouting hit sites for al Qaeda ," by Frank J. Murray, Washington Times , 6/20/03
(* My note: Of course, this refers to "recent" speculation, so maybe the Padilla case is not in any way related to the Ohio trucker Case via these code words.)
Here's the not-so-recent Padilla case refereces to "gas stations" for the record:
MARCH 2002 : (PADILLA TRAVELS TO PAKISTAN, MEETINGS ON PLOTS TO ATTACK "GAS STATIONS & HOTELS") At Abu Zubaydah's request, Padilla traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, in March to meet several senior al-Qaida officials and discuss bombings of U.S. gas stations and hotels, officials said. U.S. Nabs 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect, AP
In 2002, [Padilla] he and al-Qaida officials discussed the possibility of blowing up gas stations or hotels in a series of coordinated attacks on the United States, the memo states. Some of that information has been corroborated, the memo says, but some "confidential sources have not been completely candid. ... - AP, by Christopher Newton, 8/27/02 via NJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/740362/posts