Posted on 07/25/2002 4:38:02 PM PDT by freeperfromnj
July 25 — A training camp linked to Islamic militants has been operating in Alabama, and European law enforcement officials believe Muslim extremists were using it to prepare for a holy war.
British authorities also thought that militants from overseas were training in the United States to take advantage of America's gun laws, sources told ABCNEWS. The looming question for law enforcement is whether there is a connection between the camp and the al Qaeda terror network.
An investigation by Britain's Scotland Yard led to the discovery of the camp in Marion, Ala. The facility is called "Ground Zero USA."
Bullet-riddled police cars and a school bus with mannequin targets are scattered around the property. Inside a huge shed is an equally macabre scene — shot-up mannequins, male and female, in domestic settings, some with red, blood-like stains on them.
Ground Zero's operators promised state-of-the-art, world-class training in automatic weapons, urban warfare, SWAT tactics and martial arts, supposedly to fight terror attacks.
Marion Police Chief Tony Buford said he became suspicious of the use of police cars and buses as targets.
"It was rumored that the camp here was used as training site for possible people that were sent here to do bodily harm to Americans," Buford told ABCNEWS.
Web Site Provides Terror Link
The suspected terror ties of the Alabama camp were unknown until after Sept. 11, when officials in London arrested an accused al Qaeda supporter, Zain-ul-Albidin
He is charged with operation of a Web site, under the name of Sakina Security, allegedly recruiting Muslims for an Islamic jihad or holy war. He is now on trial in London.
The site, since taken down by British authorities, described what seemed to be the Alabama camp, including live-fire exercises at a state-of-the-art shooting range in the United States — something that would not be legal in Britain.
"In the United States, it is not illegal for anyone to receive military training, high-grade military training," said Rohan Gunaratna, author of Inside Al Qaeda.
The actual owners of camp, who are also British, say it was used primarily to train law enforcement personnel. Officials consider them unwitting accomplices. The camp owners declined to talk to ABCNEWS.
Scale of Secret Camps Unknown
It is not known how many holy war recruits came through the camp or when. But the FBI is now investigating a number of suspected training camps around the country.
"We know of a number of cases where Islamic terrorists came and training in this country in the early 1990s. It is likely that this scale of training is still continuing," Gunaratna said.
The most radical and belligerent of London's Islamic clerics, Abu Hamza, told ABCNEWS in a phone call that America's laws make such paramilitary training easy, "like a picnic."
British intelligence officials told ABCNEWS they are closely examining alleged ties between Hamza, who is said to have recruited alleged "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui, and Zain-ul-Albidin.
I already saw that movie. "Pink Cadillac". Clint Eastwood and Bernadine Peters
Even more successfully than American citizens, no doubt
British authorities, according to ABC News. Yeah, I got that drift..
"Come on in. Painless is waiting."
I don't think we know half of what's really been going on.
Another transparent attempt to link guns and terrorists. As if 1) The 9/11 murderers even USED guns; and 2) any terrorist worth his bomb belt would buy guns from a legitimate source in the first place.
Just across the Gulf of Aden from Saudi Arabia lies Somalia. The Bakara Market in Mogadishu is little more than a bargain bazaar for every kind of small arms in the world. You can buy an AK-47 -- fully select-fire -- for as little as $75. Yet we're supposed to believe that foreign terrorists are milling around K-Mart and your local gun shop snapping up old Winchesters and single-shot 12 gauges to advance their jihad.
Uh huh. And undoubtedly Osama bin Laden buys his C-rats at the Army-Navy Surplus.
A member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission said in Detroit on Friday he could foresee a scenario in which the public would demand internment camps for ArabAmericans if Arab terrorists strike again in this country.
A member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission said in Detroit on Friday he could foresee a scenario in which the public would demand internment camps for ArabAmericans if Arab terrorists strike again in this country.
A member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission said in Detroit on Friday he could foresee a scenario in which the public would demand internment camps for ArabAmericans if Arab terrorists strike again in this country.
A lot of folks still want to pretend that there is a very small group of organised criminals,worldwide, and the government is over- reacting.ISLAM IS (not) PEACE.For those who cling to this version of reality, may I suggest Prozac.For the rest of us, stay safe, stay armed and get ready for a rough ride.
This is a tactic by the liberal Islamist sympathising elements in our Govt. to forestall any effective counter-terrorism measures. Don't buy this "slippery slope" argument.
This propaganda could come straight from Al Jazeera, raise the spectre of "interment camps" and illicit sympathy for Arab and Muslim Americans whose sympathy lie with Islamic countries. It's a Red Herring meant to divert attention away from the (Arab) Fox who's entering the (American) hen house.
ABC advertises that the broadcast is available at their website.
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