New Fears: The Return of a Superterrorist (Most Dangerous Besides Osama = MUGNIYAH)

Newsweek ^ | 1/31 for 2/5 edition | Hosenball, Bahari & Chen

[cgk]

New Fears: The Return of a Superterrorist

Feb. 5, 2007 issue - Before Osama bin Laden, there was Imad Mughniyeh. The Lebanese terrorist from Hizbullah was considered the most dangerous in the world. Now the White House worries that he's back, after years of lying low. Four serving U.S. intel and counterterrorism officials, anonymous when discussing sensitive material, said Mughniyeh is prominent in recent reporting from the field about Hizbullah activity. Bruce Riedel, a veteran Mideast expert recently retired from the CIA, told NEWSWEEK there is "no question he is heavily involved in [formulating] terrorist contingency plans in case of a U.S.-Iran confrontation."

Mughniyeh has the résumé to be a potent threat. He was the alleged organizer of a series of devastating bombings and kidnappings against U.S. targets in Lebanon during the 1980s, including two bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. But Hizbullah later made a strategic decision to abandon attacks on American targets. Even now, U.S. intel officials stress that they don't believe Hizbullah will actually hit U.S. interests unless Washington strikes first—against either the movement or its key patron, Tehran.

So what is Mughniyeh up to? Two of the U.S. officials interviewed by NEWSWEEK said field reports indicate that he travels between Beirut, Damascus and Tehran. One official said that some reports also suggest he has visited Baghdad. (Hizbullah has allegedly been involved in training the Mahdi Army militia of Moqtada al-Sadr.) (EXCERPT...)

[cgk]

Imad Mugniyeh: More Dangerous Than Osama?: Who is Mugniyeh? Merely the innovator of today's jihadi terrorism, and an inspiration to everyone from Osama bin Laden to Hassan Nasrallah

Victory Means Victory: In 1993, Iran dispatched its top overseas terrorist, Imad Mugniyeh, to meet with bin Laden in Khartoum. We know about this meeting because the man who organized now sits in a U.S. prison, after copping a plea with prosecutors for his involvement in the 1998 Africa embassy bombings and other al-Qaeda operations against the United States.

Shadow Warriors... Mugniyah, the Killer of Navy Diver Stethem & How Clinton Let Him Go: “9-11 happens. And I remember walking into the kitchen that morning, turning on the TV, and staring at that plane, flying into the World Trade Center. And at that instant, i thought ‘Is this guy involved? Did he have a hand in the planning? What would have happened if we had gotten him?’”

CNN, October 2001: The recent terrorist attacks have intensified the decades-old search for Hezbollah founder Imad Mugniyah, linked to several anti-Western bombings and hijackings in the 1980s. Some intelligence sources suspect Mugniyah played a role in the hijackings of four U.S. airliners last month

(CNN, Oct 2001): U.S. renews bid to catch Beirut bombing suspect: The only things known for sure about Mugniyah are his fingerprints, literally and figuratively --fingerprints that some intelligence sources see on the September 11 attacks themselves. Those who believe there may be a link between Mugniyah and the attacks on New York and Washington point to the evidence of Ali Mohamed, a former U.S. Special Forces sergeant who admitted to involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya.
In court documents, Mohamed swore, "I arranged a meeting in Sudan between Mugniyah, Hezbollah's chief, and bin Laden. Hezbollah provided explosives training for al Qaeda and al-Jihad" -- the Egyptian Islamic extremist group believed responsible for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
"There was a massive intelligence effort to locate Mugniyah for over 20 years. And until bin Laden popped up on our radar screens, Imad Mugniyah was the master terrorist -- truly faceless, truly dangerous," Ranstorp said. "And if there was an alliance between Mugniyah and al Qaeda, it would be the worst possible scenario."

A Terrorist as Bad as Bin Laden: A Master Terrorist (Osama bin laden "is a schoolboy in comparison with Mugniyah"): The meeting was underway. The official hosting the gathering was Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, a top advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. With him were Iranian intelligence officials involved in planning overseas terrorist operations. The guest of honor was there, too, and would soon gain worldwide notoriety: Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the top deputy to Osama bin Laden. Zawahiri had come to discuss Al Qaeda's latest plans, and to relay his boss's keen desire to cooperate more with Iran. It was January 2001, eight months before the attacks of September 11.
The late arrival, who now entered the room, was critical to Al Qaeda's strategy. For 20 years, Zawahiri had been working with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, and his main partner had been this man whose youthful appearance belied his cruel nature. He was Imad Mugniyah, Iran's star operative, a terrorist with legendary skills and the mind of a psychopath. Lebanese by birth, he had risen over the years to become the top military official in the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah.

Bin Laden son plays key role in Al Qaeda: Officials said there is also evidence that another key liaison between the hard-line Iranian factions and al Qaeda is Imad Mugniyah, one of the world's most wanted terrorists.

Bin Laden's "Brothers": Mohamed's mention of a meeting between Hezbollah's terror chieftain, Imad Mugniyeh, and bin Laden is enough to set off alarm bells. ..... Remarkably, the Commission even left the door open for further investigation into the September 11 attacks. It cited evidence that senior Hezbollah operatives monitored the travels of eight to ten of the "muscle" hijackers prior to the attack. Such provocative threads of evidence led the Commission to report, "We believe this topic requires further investigation by the U.S. government."

1994: Mugniyah & Bin Laden Meeting: 1994: Ali Mohamed Trains Bin Laden’s Bodyguards and Sets Up Hezbollah Meeting

Imad Mugniyah likely behind the capture of Israeli soldiers: Mugniyah has extensive links with the Iranian intelligence services, and has been directly linked to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, and recently deceased al-Qaeda in Iraq commander Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Mugniyah is on FBI's list of 22 most wanted terrorists, with a $5 million dollar reward for information leading to his capture. U.S. Special Forces aborted a raid to capture Mugniyah in the Persian Gulf in 1996. He was believed to have visited Syria in January of 2006, attending a meeting with Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Assad.

[Jack Hammer]

Calling Jack Bauer... calling Jack Bauer... Mr. Bauer, please call the office...

[Txsleuth]

bttt

[cgk]

PING... He's back in the news again. I've seen him on Fox News Channel 3 days in a row now - short little blurbs, but they're talking about him nonetheless.

[PRePublic]

Three words, who is behind him?
Iran, Iran, Iran.

[dr_lew]

A Terrorist as Bad as Bin Laden: A Master Terrorist (Osama bin laden "is a schoolboy in comparison with Ignignokt")

[penelopesire]

ONE more reason not to ever buy News..week, for their 'fluffernutter' headlines alone!!

You can tell, they are trying to sound like the 'Daily Show' and lull the masses to sleep once again.

[claptrap]

You know if the Cosa Nostra had been employed in this endeavor they would have sent some guy named Jimmy the Fish
over there and this clown would have assumed room tempature
forthwith.
These addled excuses like "poor managment" and "I made mistakes" are getting real slow.

[Obie Wan]

Just out of curiosity where do vicious pricks like Imad Mughniyeh get their names? Do they like grab a handful of letters from a Scrabble game and throw em against a wall to see what comes up ???

[Eagles6]

Even now, U.S. intel officials stress that they don't believe Hizbullah will actually hit U.S. interests unless Washington strikes first—against either the movement or its key patron, Tehran.

Willing to bet a large US city on that?

[AliVeritas]

Bruce Riedel, a veteran Mideast expert recently retired from the CIA


Does not an oath mean anything?

Does not legal documents mean anything to the agency?

The DOJ and AG better get off their asses and shut down the 'experts' who run off at the mouth.

That goes for those who put it in print as well.

Not that we haven't known where he was for a year or more...

Do you think even this will wake libs up? I doubt it. At least they can't say they were'nt informed.

[AliVeritas]

ping

[gotribe]

Exactly. Our bad guys are better than their bad guys.

[Cindy]

Thanks for the ping Ali Veritas.

---

ON THE NET...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1761584/posts?page=1662#1662

[cgk]

Likely Mastermind of Tower Attacks: He has blown up U.S. embassies and car-bombed a U.S. military barracks. He has hijacked U.S. commercial airliners and murdered Americans. He has kidnapped and tortured a top CIA officer and vowed through terror to drive the United States from his country. Do you know who he is?

If you guessed Osama bin Laden, you're wrong. The correct answer is Imad Fayez Mugniyeh (pronounced MOOG-NEE-YEH), a Lebanese Shiite long considered one of the world's most ruthless and elusive killers. The CIA has been tracking him since 1984 when he masterminded the kidnapping in Beirut of CIA station chief William Buckley, apparently on orders from Iran. Now evidence is beginning to mount that Mugniyeh has deep ties to bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network and may have been directly involved in planning the Sept. 11 attacks.

[cgk]

ONE more reason not to ever buy News..week, for their 'fluffernutter' headlines alone!!

Well, then! Because I happened to be reading your comment at the EXACT SAME TIME a Dem strategist used that word ('fluffernutter') on Hannity & Colmes, I looked up the definition on the web not being familiar with it:

All I can say is "UHM, okay?!

[cgk]

The DOJ and AG better get off their asses and shut down the 'experts' who run off at the mouth.

I'm waiting for this as well... It's infuriating. (ticktockticktock...).

[Proud_USA_Republican]

wow. In what context did the dem strategist use the word fluffernutter????

[cgk]

Good question considering their alphabet is nothing like ours, so who knows if that is even how their name is spelled!

Courtesy of Google Translator, his name is:

عماد فايز موغنيه

[MHGinTN]

Is a beardless image available?