Vatican images at globalsecurity.org
Posted on 04/06/2005 6:56:05 PM PDT by wagglebee
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's leading news agency has denied reporting that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden would attend Pope John Paul's funeral Friday after a story attributed to it circulated widely on the Internet.
"Some people just won't stop even at a time of mourning for the Pope: among the deluge of false emails, viruses and spam, a false item attributed to Ansa is circulating about Osama bin Laden attending the funeral of John Paul II," the Ansa agency said.
In a dispatch issued late Tuesday, Ansa noted that the prankster, who specified bin Laden would be flying to Rome from Pakistan, had accurately imitated the agency's sign-off style -- a series of letters and numbers at the end of every item.
The Saudi-born bin Laden is thought to be hiding on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
I fear he will be there by proxy.
ping
The Reuters link above takes me nowhere.
Love your tagline.
If Bin Laden is on his way there, it's NOT to attend the funeral, it's to try to blow up those attending the funeral.
I hope they have lots of extra security.
It did work when I checked it.
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=4FYU1ZAHP4HXMCRBAE0CFFA?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=8102681
The link worked for me fine.
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=4FYU1ZAHP4HXMCRBAE0CFFA?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=8102681
True, but I think it would be the last thing they did. Targeting an event honoring such a high profile man who is such an obvious symbol of Christianity (Cath. question aside) would infuriate the world. I think it would make the attacks on the US pale in comparison. The non-Arab world would come down on them like a collective iron-fist.
It's weird - I thought the post may be completely bogus, as I could not find the original in a google search. But the link works. It's not a joke. But I think the wording by Reuter's is poor: it makes the Italian news agency sound culpable somehow.
But, does Al Quaeda know this? Do they care?
Even during WW II, there was a gentlemen's agreement that some landmarks WERE OFF LIMITS to be attacked. St. Peter's was one of them. Sadly, times and attitudes have changed. AQ would have no reservation to do something there this week.
BTW, a little off-topic, here is something I posted on another Papal thread:
Tonight on NBC Nightly News, they had an image from SpaceImaging of St. Peter's Square. You could see the throngs snaking from the front door, out in the Square, down the street leading into the Sqaure and along the Tiber River. Truly an unbelievable picture. I haven't found it on SpaceImaging.com yet but I'm still on the hunt. What a tribute to the Pope. May God bless and protect his soul.
I hope so too.
Many heads of state in Rome
Old Article:
Vatican Heightens Security Around Pope
Security experts say Pope John Paul II has been and remains a prime target for Osama bin Laden.
Nov. 20, 2001 (ABCNEWS.com) -- Amid concerns Osama bin Laden could strike again between Thanksgiving and Christmas, already tight security around Pope John Paul II is being further heightened. Former CIA counterterrorism chief Vince Cannistraro, an ABCNEWS consultant, told an Italian newspaper this weekend that bin Laden was virtually certain to attempt another attack over the holidays. Cannistraro, who also advises the Vatican on security, said the pope has been and remains a prime target for bin Laden. "He looks at the pope as the symbolic head of the crusaders and a natural target," Cannistraro says.
But for a series of missteps, authorities believe a plot against the pope would have been carried out six years ago. As the pope prepared for a visit to the Philippines in 1995, bin Laden's operatives scrambled to get into place for an attack. But authorities say the plot was aborted one week before the pope arrived when bin Laden's men accidentally set fire to their apartment in Manila while mixing chemicals for a bomb.
Some of the men later caught admitted the pope was to be the target of a suicide bomber, and identified the mastermind as top bin Laden lieutenant Ramzi Youseff. "Youseff's safe house was found with a lot of clerical robes, a map, a diagram of the pope's itinerary," Cannistraro says. "It was clear they were planning to kill the pope." Youseff was captured in Pakistan later that year. He was brought back to the United States, where he is serving life in prison for masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and a 1994 airplane bombing.
As authorities throughout Europe search for bin Laden's terrorist cells that remain active, investigators say the threat is real. "I am quite sure that there are still some of them in Italy," says Rodolfo Ronconi, an Interpol official in Italy. There is official concern the pope, even behind the heavily guarded walls of Vatican City, could again be a target in the coming holiday season, particularly given the increasing military pressure on bin Laden.
"I think al Qaeda wants to be seen as up and fighting in spite of the enormous setbacks that they have been suffering," says Tana de Zulueta, a senator in Rome. The Vatican has sought to play down suggestions the pope could again be a target, and bin Laden has no mention of the pope in any recent statements.
Even so, Italian officials say there has been enhanced security at the Vatican since Sept. 11, some seen and some unseen -- including undercover police in priests' robes. Authorities also say that, for the last two weeks, there has been an intensive effort to inspect trucks entering Rome, particularly near Vatican City. And there remain fears al Qaeda, which is believed to have destroyed the World Trade Center this year after bombing it first in 1993, might want to finish in Rome what it started six years ago in Manila.
"They have shown they take a different approach to time," de Zulueta says. "They don't mind waiting years if necessary. It's obvious he is the kind of target that would be a very powerful symbol."
Thanks.
This link works. The one at the very top took me to http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml, but with a blank white page.
Let me know when you find it, I'd love to see that.
"The non-Arab world would come down on them like a collective iron-fist."
I believe they would or else they would have to face the KABOOMS.
If OBL tries anything it would not be simply because of the event, but also because of the presence of many world leaders and heads of state, including from Muslim/Arabs countries.
Suppose Alqaida sneaked into the Forum and blew it up. How would you know?
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