Posted on 09/04/2004 9:09:43 PM PDT by Pikamax
Bwia plane on terror website
By Richard Charan and Darryl Heeralal
Sunday, September 5th 2004
The image of an exploding BWIA passenger aircraft has turned up on a website linked to the Al Qaeda terror group.
The Lockheed L-1011 Tri-Star is shown with its fuselage and wing on fire, next to figures of hooded women and the landing gear of a crashed plane.
It is uncertain whether the airline is aware of the website posting, and BWIA's Corporate Communications Officer, Dionne Ligoure, could not be contacted last evening.
The airplane appears on the website of the Global Islamic Media Center, a site described by online terror watch-groups as the mouthpiece of the Osama Bin Laden-led terrorist organisation.
The image was posted on August 25, a week after the local media reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) had set up an office in Port of Spain, to help in the search for one of the most wanted men in the world, Al-Qaeda terrorist suspect Adnan El Shukri Jumah.
El Shukri Jumah spent time in Central Trinidad after the search for him began in 2003.
Trinidad is considered a possible target of terrorists because of its strategic importance to the United States.
Police Commissioner Trevor Paul said yesterday he had no information on the matter, while US Embassy public relations officer, Robert Skinner, said he was on vacation and unable to comment.
The Global Islamic Media Organisation site has since been shut down but, according to reports, it has previously posted threats by terror groups calling for the heads of the political leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan and Chechyna for their perceived links to the United States.
The organisation has also posted video images of the beheading of hostages taken in Iraq by militants protesting the US occupation of that country.
The image of the burning BWIA plane appears to show women shrouded by scarfs, similar to the "black widows" who took part in the siege on the Moscow theatre in Russia two years ago, an attack that ended with the deaths of more than 100 hostages.
A BWIA official who has knowledge of the aircraft said the L-1011 pictured on the website was one of four decommissioned several years ago and replaced by the Airbus A340.
The colours of the BWIA planes have since been changed and, according to the official, "this could have been a photo taken by an amateur and posted on a website dedicated to showing pictures of planes from around the world. From there, anyone could have access to it. But the question is why they chose a Bee Wee plane?"
The Muslim terrorists are still p*ssed off that their coup attempt in 1990 was thwarted.
ping
Ping
This Global Islamic Media Centre website does not get shut down permanently; it moves around on the web. It will find a new home.
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