Terror suspect ... Jose Padilla was looking for targets
Posted on 06/13/2002 2:59:50 PM PDT by knighthawk
TERRORISTS planned to hijack more than four planes on September 11, a top official with the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) said yesterday.
"It's highly likely there were more than four planes involved," said Canadian General Ken Pennie, second in command of NORAD, the US-Canada operation that monitors threats from the air.
The revelations yesterday came as evidence mounted that members of al-Qaeda had begun using Pakistan as a base to plan international terrorist operations.
The tracking of Jose Padilla's alleged "dirty bomb" plot to Pakistan was part of that evidence, US officials said.
Padilla, the American citizen being held by the US military as an enemy combatant, is accused of being part of a plot to detonate a radioactive weapon in the US.
Also yesterday, French anti-terrorist police rounded up five people suspected of providing assistance to alleged shoe bomber Richard Reid in Paris, the second such sweep in two months.
The arrests came as officials in Germany said they had received intelligence of a possible al-Qaeda plot to shoot down civilian airliners.
In India, officials claimed they had evidence of an imminent al-Qaeda attack on financial institutions in Bombay.
And Britain said it was forming a 6000-strong multi-service reaction unit in case of a September 11-style attack.
The warnings in India and Germany came after Pakistani officials said an alleged accomplice of Padilla had been arrested.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official named the suspect as Benjamin Ahmed Mohammed, and said he had been questioned by FBI agents.
Padilla is alleged to have travelled with one of Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenants, Abu Zubaydah, from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Abu Zubaydah was captured on March 28 in the industrial city of Faisalabad.
Padilla's journeys put him on four continents in less than a month.
He left Karachi in early April and briefly visited Zurich in Switzerland before going to Cairo in Egypt. He spent a month there, returned to Zurich, and on May 8 flew to Chicago, where he was arrested by the FBI.
US agents had trailed him for some of his journey.
Officials said Padilla was probably flying to the US to scout targets for an al-Qaeda dirty bomb attack.
Terror suspect ... Jose Padilla was looking for targets
Note to Musharref....
DUCK!
I suspect that since these stories might challenge airlines, they are squashed. Though we are freely given allegations about Radioactiv bombs - they don't hurt any particular lobby group.
"It's highly likely there were more than four planes involved," said Canadian General Ken Pennie, second in command of NORAD, the US-Canada operation that monitors threats from the air.
On what basis would he make this statement? If they had planned to hijack more planes they'd simply have done so.
On the other hand, it could be 'over the top' like mentioned in a thread about the 'dirty bomber'.
As for box cutters, don't forget Ali Ayub Khan (also known as Syed Gul Mohamed Shah) and Mohammed Jazweeth Azmath. These were were the two Pakistanis who were flying when all planes were grounded on 9/1 1. They then took a train to San Antonio, and they were subsequently arrested with box cutters, $5000 in cash, and hair dye; their bodies were apparently shaved. Azmath also had copies of numerous passport photos. (The suspicion, of course, was that they were about to hijack the plane when their plans were thwarted by the quick decision to ground all airliners. They have been charged with credit card fraud and are officially no longer under suspicion of terrorism, if you believe the public press releases.) See this CNN link.
Zurich or Geneva? According to Jim Miklaszewski of NBC News, Padilla flew from Geneva to Chicago.
It is obviously embarassing the FBI let those people slip away.
All flights were grounded before they had the opportunity.
That's true, but there was always one guy who knew for sure that it was a suicide mission - namely the guy who was going to pilot the plane.
Now I suppose if the "helpers" wimped out, the pilot may have figured that he couldn't pull off the mission by himself and so lived to "fight" another day.
I suppose maybe they didn't figure on that eventuality occurring so quickly but they had to know they would have a narrow window of opportunity.
The comment about delayed flights could be valid.
I continue to be the of the opinion that the quick decision to ground all flights on 9/11 saved many thousands of lives. (I do wish that the authorities had had the foresight not to simply let all the passengers walk away from their flights that day, after they landed. Many terrorists probably got away at that time, unfortunately. But this isn't criticism, just a comment -- it's easy, and not truly reasonable, to criticize something like this in hindsight.)
Maybe that would be a good topic on FR....what would have happened on 9/11 if Gore would have won the 2000 election? Scary stuff.
But with foresight, it will happen again - American Airlines seems bent on making profits - see that thread about the shoe bomb plane and management's plan not to report the threat.
Here's something else for you from Florida:
Security investigation into mosquito choppers
LEE COUNTY, June 13, 2002 — Lee County Mosquito Control is the target of a homeland security investigation. Officers with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement say the agency hasn't broken any laws but may be putting the public in harm's way.
The investigation is in response to a complaint that mosquito control choppers are landing near a busy Cape Coral intersection.
The helicopters often stop for food or fuel in the area when there is no landing pad nearby, but some say they're landing a little too close for comfort.
FDLE is investigating with their domestic security task force and they may recommend that mosquito control not land near neighborhoods whenever possible.
They have yet to complete their investigation.
SECURITY RISK?
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