Document the funding of terrorism by the UAE today.
Put up or take your little dream and stick it...
"The United Arab Emirates (UAE), more than any other small Persian Gulf monarchy, was frequently used by terrorist plotters to move funds around the globe, acquire foreign visas and passports, and shelter terrorists moving between Afghanistan and the Middle East." http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32518.pdf
From the 9/11 Commission Hearings; William Cohen, Former Secretary of Defense:
"During the winter of 1998-99, intelligence reported that bin Laden frequently visited a camp in the desert, adjacent to a larger hunting camp in Helmand Province of Afghanistan, used by visitors from a Gulf state… Public sources have stated that these visitors were from the United Arab Emirates. At the beginning of February, bin Laden was reportedly located there, and apparently remained for more than a week."
"Intelligence… showed the nearby presence of an official aircraft of the UAE. The CIA received reports that bin Laden regularly went from his adjacent camp to the larger camp where he visited with Emiratis…"
"On February 10th, [Terrorism Czar Richard] Clarke reported that a top UAE official had vehemently denied that high-level UAE officials were in Afghanistan."
"Evidence subsequently confirmed that high-level UAE officials had been there."
http://www.9-11commission.gov/archive/hearing8/9-11Commission_Hearing_2004-03-23.pdf
From the 9/11 Commission's report:
"Early in 1999, the CIA received reporting that Bin Ladin was spending much of his time at one of several camps in the Afghan desert south of Kandahar."
"On February 8, the military began to ready itself for a possible strike. The next day, national technical intelligence confirmed the location and description of the larger camp and showed the nearby presence of an official aircraft of the United Arab Emirates… No strike was launched…"
"According to CIA and Defense officials, policymakers were concerned about the danger that a strike would kill an Emirati [UAE] prince or other senior officials who might be with Bin Ladin or close by…"
"The United Arab Emirates was becoming… a persistent counterterrorism problem… UAE [was]… one of the Taliban's only travel and financial outlets to the outside world."
http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch4.pdf
From the 9/11 Commission's report notes:
"Days before overhead imagery confirmed the location of the hunting camp, Clarke had returned from a visit to the
UAE, where he where he had been working on counterterrorism cooperation and following up on a May 1998 UAE agreement to buy F-16 aircraft from the United States. His visit included one-on-one meetings with Army Chief of Staff bin Zayid…"
"General Shelton also told us that his UAE counterpart said he had been hunting at a desert camp in Afghanistan at about this time."
http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Notes.pdf
And if one was hunting in Afghanistan at this time, it was with bin Laden. From the Times of London on September 23, 2001:
"Bin Laden loves falcon hunting and had captured all the local falcons for his own pleasure."
Moreover, Shelton’s UAE ‘counterpart’ as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Armed Forces would be the Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, Mohammed bin Zayid.
From The Gulf News March 21, 2002:
“Lt. Gen. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces…”
From a Department of Defense Briefing, October 13, 1999:
“[UAE] President [King] Zayid and also with the chief of staff, who is the president's son, Mohammed bin Zayid…”
Link
Shelton is therefore revealing that Prince bin Zayid was the high level UAE official visiting bin Laden at his hunting compound.
Mohammed Bin Zayid is the very person Richard Clarke called (some would say tipped) on February 10th regarding UAE officials at Bin Laden’s hunting compound. Small World.
But did bin Zayid’s ties to al-Qaeda end after September 11th? Some habits are hard to break.
From The Boston Herald, October 7, 2001:
"Saif Salem al-Mehairbi… [is wanted] in connection with the probe of the terrorist hijackings. Al-Mehairbi's name is one of more than 300 contained on a list compiled by FBI and intelligence agencies that has been sent to banking officials in Europe..."
'"This is a pretty major thing and I can't comment in the middle of an FBI investigation," said McDonald, vice president for operations for Corcoran Management Co., which operates the 285-unit complex."
"A few days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, five FBI agents and a state trooper also went to 4 Canal Park in Cambridge, where al-Mehairbi lived until mid-July, according to building superintendent Richard Huber. FBI agents and a Boston police officer also spent several hours searching an apartment at Charles River Towers in Watertown, where al-Mehairbi's name is listed on a building directory."
"Al-Mehairbi also apparently operated two Internet sites, one called "WolfofDarkness.com," which were devoted to Islam and contain eerie statements about the "peace of death." One of the sites details al-Mehairbi's love of Islam, poetry writing and falcon hunting. He… also states: "Real love is not knowing the difference between death and life,"…"
The Herald left out this quote from al-Mehairbi’s website:
“Life is art of fight and learn, I heard those words from someone "Give me the peace of death, and I will give you the joy of life". This is the way how I work with life, my day is my day, the past I throw it away the future I don't care about it.”
Link
Mehairbi hit the terrorist trifecta. His address is labeled as al-Qaeda’s ‘drop box location’ on the FBI’s 9/11 suspect list. He speaks of the ‘peace of death’. And, of course, he puts his love of falcon hunting just after Islam (as you can see in the photo above).
You can just tell that al-Mehairbi would get along splendidly with the UAE’s Chief of Staff & King’s son, Mohammed bin Zayed, who enjoys falcon hunting and hanging out with the leader of al-Qaeda -- at the same time.
From The Gulf News March 21, 2002:
“A young UAE national… spent two months in jail after the FBI suspected he was involved in the September 11 attacks…”
“He packed up his belongings and drove to Washington, DC, where he had many friends. "I left Boston on September 16. The following day, I got a message from a friend telling me that a team of 15 or 16 FBI agents had come to our building looking for me," he said…”
“On October 10, the UAE Ambassador to the U.S. paid him a visit… Al Mehairbi… was released. The UAE embassy posted the $ 100,000 bail…”
Gulf News March 21, 2002
Copyright 2002 Financial Times Information
A young UAE national, who spent two months in jail after the FBI suspected he was involved in the September 11 attacks, is looking for a local university where he can resume his studies.
Saif Salem Al Mehairbi, 26, was released from custody on the first day of Ramadan, and returned home a week before the Eid Al Adha holidays.
Al Mehairbi's ordeal began shortly after the collapse of the Twin Towers, when a series of circumstantial evidence and false accusations put the FBI on his trail.
The young UAE national was studying at Suffolk University in Boston. He had closed his bank account a few days after the attacks.
"It was a coincidence," he explained. "I used to receive money transfers from my family in Abu Dhabi - sometimes through my bank account, sometimes through Western Union. But the people who were involved in the attacks were also found to be receiving money transfers..."
Al Mehairbi's move to close his account prompted the bank manager to contact the FBI and indicate that something was amiss. According to Al Mehairbi the bank manager went a step further.
"This guy called the FBI and claimed I had told him the reason I was closing my account was because 'it had served its purpose on September 11'. I never said that. He also claimed I threatened to do the same thing to the bank as I had done to the Twin Towers. I never said that either. These are all groundless allegations," he maintained.
The bank manager's 'tip-off' was enough to classify the young Arab student as a terrorist suspect.
At around this time, Al Mehairbi received a call from his father urging him to stop attending classes and to come home.
"He had heard of many incidents of Arabs being attacked by Americans, " he said.
Al Mehairbi had only six courses left to graduate. He decided to heed his father's advice. He would return to the U.S. and complete his degree once the clamour had subsided.
He packed up his belongings and drove to Washington, DC, where he had many friends.
"I left Boston on September 16. The following day, I got a message from a friend telling me that a team of 15 or 16 FBI agents had come to our building looking for me," he said. "There are many UAE nationals who live in that building. They questioned everybody for seven hours."
Al Mehairbi had already shipped his belongings back to the UAE, and he had booked a flight home on September 20. But on the day of his scheduled departure, he was contacted by an agent in Washington DC who asked him to come to the FBI headquarters.
What ensued was an interrogation that lasted nearly 14 hours.
"They asked me all kinds of questions. They asked whether I had ever received training in Afghan-istan, Pakistan or Sudan. I told them 'no'. They asked me my opinion of Osama bin Laden. I told them 'I don't know the guy to judge him'. They asked me what I did in the United States from the first day I arrived, up to that moment."
Al Mehairbi was ordered to cancel his flight, and to stay in the U.S. for an additional three days. He was going to be detained at the Arlington County Jail.
A few hours later, he was transferred to another jail where he was detained in a solitary cell.
During this time, Al Mehairbi claims he was mistreated. He was not given any food for the first three days. He was denied the right to take a shower for the first month - 'no toothbrush, nothing!'
When he prayed, Al Mehairbi said he was taunted by the guards.
Finally, on October 10, the UAE Ambassador to the U.S. paid him a visit.
"He told me that I was cleared of suspicion over involvement in the September 11 attacks. He told me not to worry, and that I would be out soon. But I had to stay a little while longer because I had overstayed my tourist visa."
On November 15, Al Mehairbi, who had lost 15 kilos by the end of his detention period, was released. The UAE embassy posted the $ 100,000 bail.
The conditions of his release forbade him from leaving the country until the case against the guard had been resolved. These conditions were guaranteed by two representatives of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mohammed Al Hamlie and Saif Al Shamsi.
On February 14, Al Mehairbi was free to return to his country. Despite the traumatising experience, he holds no grudges, and would have no qualms returning to America for study, business or leisure.
"Everywhere, you have good people and you have bad people. My lawyer was an American lady, and she was very good to me," he said.
Al Mehairbi is especially grateful to President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
"I would never have left jail if it were not for him. He is a true leader who takes care of his people wherever in the world they may be. May God bless him and keep him in good health."
He is also appreciative of Lt. Gen. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, who took a personal interest in the case. "He supported me throughout, step by step."