Arrested Fidayeen reveal terror route, LeT hand

The arrest of three Pakistani nationals hailing from Multan in connection with Mumbai siege has once again revealed the role of Lashkar-e-Tayiba in terror strikes in India after the Akshardham attack in 2002.

Police and central security personnel have arrested at least three Pakistanis, including Ajmal Amir Kamal, a resident of Faridkot near Multan in Pakistan's Punjab province. All the three belong to the suicide squad of Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

The terrorists told interrogators that 12 of them had left in a merchant vessel from the port city of Karachi, which was on its way to Vietnam, from which they got down and rowed 10 nautical miles into Indian waters up to Gateway of India.

The dozen people split into at least five groups that created havoc in five star hotels -- Taj and Trident (Oberoi). The terrorists were carrying dry fruits, suggesting they were prepared for a long-drawn battle.

The sources said the group was joined by some of the local contacts who provided them logistics like bags and dry fruits, the sources said, adding initial reports suggested that the terror group had come to the metropolis in the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

However, new leads suggested that they had entered the Indian waters on early Wednesday morning, the sources said.

This major strike from the banned Lashkar comes six years after it had carried out an audacious attack on Akshardham temple [Images] in Ahmedabad [Images] in which 25 were killed on September 25, 2002.

Elite National Security Guards had to be airdropped into the complex to rescue 50 people.

The Lashkar-e-Tayiba had a mixed luck with attack on RSS headquarters in Nagpur and attack on Group Regimental Centre of the Central Reserve Police Force at Rampur (Uttar Pradesh [Images]) in 2007.

After being banned by the US for spreading terror in the world and being linked with Al-Qaeda [Images], Lashkar had mainly used its Indian contacts, which included Indian Mujahideeen, to indulge in terror network.

However, this time in Mumbai, the terror group decided to carry out the attack itself as they wanted to strike in a big way, the sources said.

OCTOBER 18? 2002 THU : (INDIA) Police said 16 persons, including 12 separatist guerrillas, were killed on Thursday in new shootouts in India's Jammu and Kashmir state. The violence came as India and Pakistan announced they would withdraw troops deployed along their border, ending an almost year-long military standoff that brought the nuclear- armed neighbors close to war over disputed Kashmir, the trigger of two of three wars between them.-- (EmergencyNet News) 18 Oct 2002

DECEMBER 2, 2002 : (GHATKOPAR, INDIA : ) Students Islamic Movement thought responsible for Indian bus blast killing two and injuring thirty-four. -------posted by Diogenesis

DECEMBER 12, 2002: (PULWANA, INDIA : GRENADE ATTACK) Grenade attack by Muslim separatists injures twenty-six civilians. -------posted by Diogenesis

DECEMBER 19, 2002 : (KASHMIR, INDIA : ) Two soldiers are killed and about twenty other people, including civilians were killed in separate grenade and shooting attacks by Muslim rebels. -------posted by Diogenesis

DECEMBER 20, 2002 : (PARAOTT, INDIA : ) Muslim attackers invade the home of three young women who were not wearing veils. They killed the three by slitting the throats of two and then shooting a third. -------posted by Diogenesis

DECEMBER 22, 2002 : (REBAN, INDIA : ) Terrorists invade a house, force victims to recite Muslim passage, then kill four of them, including a four-year old boy. Three other family members are wounded. -------posted by Diogenesis

You're welcome. These LeT terrorists get around- even in Iraq:

2003 months before the invasion of Iraq : (IRAQ & LeT : LeT INTERESTED IN IRAQ CONFLICT EVEN BEFORE THE COALITION INVASION) ...Yet it is LET’s involvement in the Iraqi conflict that perhaps raises the most troubling questions as to when the group arrived in Iraq and whether or not their motives were limited only to anti-American sentiments. This is especially important given that their rhetoric prior to the invasion was not only anti-U.S., but pro-Saddam Hussein. In the months preceding the Iraq war, LET statements included condoning jihad in Iraq. The group’s former chief, Mohammad Hafiz Said, even went so far as to suggest that Pakistani troops and nuclear weapons be used against Western forces in Iraq.
... Much of LET’s rhetoric about fighting the infidels in Iraq could easily be dismissed as empty threats. Post-war revelations, however, suggest that the group was serious—deadly serious. New evidence shows that LET funded sleeper cells and sent jihadist fighters to Iraq, specifically suicide bombers. LET fighters, including Danish Ahme, were reported to be captured in Basra by British forces.
The exact time period when LET operatives entered Iraq is unknown. But recently released internal Iraqi memos indicate that some LET members may have been among the foreign jihadist volunteers who came into Iraq before the war to fight alongside Saddam’s regime.
One internal Iraqi document of particular concern, ISGQ-2003-00054866, discusses the traits and skills desired by Saddam’s regime of its pre-war volunteers. Among the desired traits mentioned were loyalty to the regime, an assortment of military skills and fluency in Urdu. Urdu is the main language spoken within LET's base of operations.
It is possible that Saddam’s henchmen sought fluent Urdish speakers to communicate with other Urdu speaking groups involved in the planned resistance. However, the more likely reason is that LET’s outspoken desire to assist in defending Iraq and the subsequent capture of some of the group’s fighters by Western coalition forces, made them one of the key Urdu speaking “volunteers” Saddam’s regime sought to collaborate with.
The Iraqi dictator probably not only had strong ties to LET, but additional released Iraqi documents and the capture of Iraqi agents show that Saddam’s regime had extensive contacts with other jihadist, Islamic militants based in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region and in disputed Kashmir—contacts that went back to the 1990s.
For example, one of the documents quotes Iraq’s former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan as saying Saddam’s regime had numerous allies in Pakistan. Ramadan also says that he had been communicating with Pakistan-based cleric Maulana Fazlur Rahman, someone known to be closely affiliated with al Qaeda and a good friend of Mullah Omar [of Afghanistan's Taliban]
As more Iraqi documents (those that survived the last minute deliberate destruction) are released, the public may better understand when and how groups such as LET entered Iraq. Hopefully, the public will also better understand the exact nature of the pre-war collusion between Saddam’s secular fascist regime and Islamist fascist groups, who continue to play such a destructive role in today’s post-war Iraq.
------- "Eichenlaub: Indian Islamist terror group had ties to Saddam," Commentary by Mark Eichenlaub , Insight, www.insightmag.com - Issue Date: July 25-31, 2006, Posted On: 7/25/2006

FEBRUARY 2003 late : (VA : VIRGINIA JIHAD/PAINTBALL CELL : HOMES OF AL-TAMIMI, GARBIEH, AND AL-HAMDI ARE SEARCHED BY FBI; FIND KWON'S WILL IN TAMIMI'S APARTMENT-- see LeT) In late February, when the FBI searched the northern Virginia homes of al-Timimi, and of his students Nabil Garbieh and al-Hamdi, the warrants said they were seeking evidence that the men and Kwon had provided material support of terrorism or foreign terrorist groups. According to the agents' inventory, they seized from Al-Timimi's apartment a number of items similar to those seized from the other men's homes: Arabic documents, financial and travel records and computer equipment. They also seized items described only as "Misc. Jihad/extremism literature" and a "will for Kwon," the inventory said. ...
In e-mail responses to the Post-Dispatch, Al-Timimi [later] said he had hundreds of volumes of books at his home and "for me not to have literature written by contemporary Islamic movements - in all their various stripes and colors - would mean that I am not a serious observer of the modern Muslim world. … And my position against terrorism and Muslim inspired violence against innocent people is well known by Muslims."
He said Kwon's will was among his belongings because Kwon had made a pilgrimage to Mecca and had adhered to Islamic teachings that recommend preparing a will before making the trip. "So the existence of his will is no more than a case of a young convert who wanted to leave his will with someone in the community before he went out on pilgrimage … ," Al-Timimi wrote in an e-mail.- "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003

APRIL 2003 : (LASHKAR-E-TAIBA aka LeT : PAINTBALL CELL : ROYER GETS INTERNATIONAL CALL FROM KWON) Royer said he received an international call from Kwon in April, less than two weeks before Kwon left his parents' home in South Korea. Kwon told him that federal agents from the United States visited their home twice. "The FBI came with the U.S. legal attache and with the South Korean police and the Korean police said, `Cooperate if you know what's good for your family,'" Royer recalled [later]. - "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003

APRIL 18, 2003 : (YEMENI AMBASSADOR WRITES LETTER TO US STATE DEPT -- See AL HAMDI, LASHKAR-E-TAIBA aka LeT ) Abdulwahab al-Hajjri, Yemen's ambassador to the United States, wrote a letter to the State Department on April 18 - after al-Hamdi had been in detention for a month on the weapons charge. The letter included a not-so-subtle reminder of his government's cooperation in the war on terrorism. "Yemen has taken steps that allowed U.S. officials access to Yemeni suspects on Yemeni soil, an act that has caused the government much consternation with opposition forces inside Yemen … ," al-Hajjri wrote. "We, therefore, find it somewhat disconcerting to see the case of Mr. Al-Hamdi being drawn out in this manner." His lawyer declined to discuss the issues that led the FBI to search his apartment in the first place: the travels abroad of al-Hamdi and his fellow paintball team members, and whether they involved training with groups such as Lashka-I-Taiba.- "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003

APRIL 2003 : ( PAINTBALL CELL : KWON LEAVES HIS PARENT'S HOME IN SOUTH KOREA--see LASHKAR-E-TAIBA aka LeT) - "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003

APRIL 29, 2003 : (USA : PAINTBALL CELL / VA JIHAD'S KWON ARRESTED ON ARRIVAL IN US FROM SOUTH KOREA--see LASHKAR-E-TAIBA aka LeT ) According to court records, federal agents arrested Kwon on a passport fraud complaint April 29, after he arrived in Virginia from South Korea to testify before the grand jury. There is little other information available in the court record on Kwon, 27, who took part in the paintball games and studied with al-Timimi like many of the other men. - "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003

APRIL - JUNE 12, 2003 : (PAINTBALL CELL : KWON REMAINS IN JAIL FOR ALLEGED PASSPORT FRAUD--see LASHKAR-E-TAIBA aka LeT ) Kwon has been in prison since his arrest in late April. He has not yet been indicted on the passport fraud complaint that is keeping him there. - "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003

MAY 2003 : (USA : VA JIHAD : SEARCH WARRANTS EXECUTED ON SUSPICION PAINTBALL CELL WAS ASSOCIATED WITH LASHKAR-E-TAIBA -- See INDIA) The search warrants executed in May sought evidence that some of the men provided support to Lashkar-I-Taiba, which the U.S. government designated as a terrorist group in December 2001, after India accused the group of taking part in an attack on the Indian parliament.- "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003
********
In fact, LET agents have been captured in the United States. In 2003, operatives were arrested in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania for conspiring to "[P]repare for and engage in violent jihad on behalf of Muslims in Kashmir, Chechnya, the Philippines and other countries."------- "Eichenlaub: Indian Islamist terror group had ties to Saddam," Commentary by Mark Eichenlaub , Insight, www.insightmag.com - Issue Date: July 25-31, 2006, Posted On: 7/25/2006

MAY 2003 : ( BRIGITTE ARRIVES IN AUSTRALIA : See SYDNEY CELL, LET) He [Brigitte] entered Australia in May this year [2003] ------ "Deportee tie to assassination," By Peter Fray, Paris & Mark Forbes, Canberra, The Age [Australia] , October 29, 2003 ; This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/28/1067233172665.html

MAY 8, 2003 : (VA : PAINTBALL CELL : RAHEEM'S APARTMENT IS SEARCHED--see LASHKAR-E-TAIBA aka LeT ) Caliph Basha Raheem's Virginia apartment was searched on May 8.... Abdur-Raheem said the FBI agents he spoke to believe that these trips made by al-Timimi's students were made to conduct training with Islamic terrorist groups. Of particular interest to them, he said, was the militant Lashkar-I-Taiba group in Pakistan that is battling Indian forces over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, claimed by India and by Pakistan.- "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003

JUNE 3, 2002 : (PAKISTAN : THE HEAD OF JAMAAT UL DAAWA CLAIMS HIS LOYALISTS CONTROL TWO MISSILES WITH NUCLEAR WARHEADS -- See BOSTON CELL, LASHKAR-E-TAIBA aka LeT , JAMAAT UL DAAWA) Islamabad, June 3: Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Amir Jammat-ad Dawa today said that they have loyalists among the personnel who control two missiles with nuclear warheads. They shall be used against the enemies of Islam. He made this statement while in the custody of Islamabad Police. --------- "We control two nuclear missiles" Hafiz Muhammad Saeed www.markazdawa.org ^ | Jun 3 2002 | staff Posted on 06/06/2002 9:24:07 AM PDT by lyonesse

JUNE 5, 2003 : (LASHKAR-E-TAIBA : IBRAHIM AL-HAMDI, SON OF YEMENI DIPLOMAT, PLEADS GUILTY TO LESSER WEAPONS CHARGE IN EXCHANGE FOR TESTIMONY--- See VA JIHAD/PAINTBALL CELL) The son of a prominent Yemeni diplomat pleaded guilty June 5 to a weapons charge and has agreed to testify before the grand jury. - "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003

JUNE 12, 2003 : (USA : 12 MEN UNDER INVESTIGATION -- See PAINTBALL CELL/VA JIHAD, LeT) - WASHINGTON - The FBI and a federal grand jury are investigating at least 12 Muslim men from the Washington area whom the government suspects of sharing ties to terrorists. The men and their attorneys say they are the victims of overzealous agents who are attributing sinister motives to activities as innocent as the men's participation in paintball games.
Several searches of the men's homes turned up a mixed bag of evidence, according to inventories of the seized items. The items included what agents described as a "terrorist manual" and a "printout of the FBI headquarters building" in downtown Washington, as well as an array of paintball equipment. But one of the inventories listed a "grenade launcher" that a prosecutor said he thinks is a flare gun.
... All of the men were students of Ali Al-Timimi, an Islamic scholar whose home was also searched. The group includes the son [Ibrahim al-Hamdi] of a prominent Yemeni diplomat, and a St. Louis native who converted to Islam.
----- "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, (KRT) via St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003

JUNE 2003 a Friday : (VA JIHAD ARRESTS) The US authorities on Friday detained eight people [named as Randall Todd Royer, 30, Ibrahim Ahmed al-Hamdi, a Yemeni; Masoud Ahmad Khan, 31; Yong Ki Kwon, 27, a naturalised American born in South Korea; Mohammed Aatique, a 30-year-old Pakistani; Hammad Abdur-Raheem, 35; Donald Thomas Surratt, 30; and Caliph Basha Ibn Abdur-Raheem, 29. ] they accused of supporting Lashkar-e-Taeba, which has been engaged in terrorist activities in the state Jammu and Kashmir. Another three people [Khwaja Mahmood Hasan, 27, a Pakistani-born American; Sabri Benkhala, 28; and Seifullah Chapman, 30 ] said to be living in Saudi Arabia were arraigned with the eight. All were accused of conspiring to help violence by Muslim terrorists in Kashmir, Chechnya, the Philippines and other countries. Anti-terrorist raids were carried out in three states in the Washington region [Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania], the justice department said in a statement. The eight detained "have been indicted on conspiracy, firearms and other charges for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to train and participate in jihad in Kashmir," said US Attorney Paul McNulty. The 11 who face charges include at least two men born in Pakistan, one Yemeni and one from South Korea. They were to appear in court in Alexandria, Virginia, in the Washington suburbs.- "11 Lashkar terrorists arrested in US," Hindustan Times, June 28 2003
*********
Nine Americans were among 11 men charged today with conspiring to train on U.S. soil for a "violent jihad" overseas. According to an indictment issued by the federal government, the men belong to the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, or "Army of the Righteous," which seeks to drive India out of the disputed Kashmir province, Fox News reported. .----(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com .GLOBAL JIHAD Americans charged in 'holy-war' plot (Religion of Peace Alert) WorldNetDaily.com ^ | June 27, 2003 | WorldNetDaily.com

JUNE 27, 2003 : (USA : 9 AMERICANS, 2 FOREIGNERS CHARGED : AHMED ABU-ALI IS BEING HELD IN SAUDI ARABIA, CASE RELATED TO MAY 12 SAUDI BOMBINGS --See PAINTBALL CELL / VA JIHAD & LeT) Nine Americans were among 11 men charged today with conspiring to train on U.S. soil for a "violent jihad" overseas. According to an indictment issued by the federal government, the men belong to the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, or "Army of the Righteous," which seeks to drive India out of the disputed Kashmir province, Fox News reported. The Islamic group is on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations. India, which is in a conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir, accuses the group of launching suicide attacks against officials and civilians in the province.
"These indictments are a stark reminder that terrorist organizations of various allegiances are active in the United States and these groups exploit America's freedom as a weapon to recruit and position themselves on our shores, in our society," U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty told reporters. After the Sept. 11 attacks, said McNulty, "Virginia jihad network members were told that it was time to engage in violent jihad."
One suspect, Ahmed Abu-Ali, is being held in Saudi Arabia by officials probing the May 12 bombings in Riyadh that killed nine attackers and 25 other people. ----- "GLOBAL JIHAD : Americans charged in 'holy-war' plot : Accused of conspiring to train on U.S. soil for battle overseas," WorldNetDaily.com , June 27, 2003

SEPTEMBER 2003 late : (THE FRENCH WARN AUSTRALIA THAT BRIGITTE HAS ENTERED AUSTRALIA -- See SYDNEY CELL, LET) He entered Australia in May this year [2003] and came to the attention of Australian authorities after a warning from the French in late September. ------ "Deportee tie to assassination," By Peter Fray, Paris & Mark Forbes, Canberra, The Age [Australia] , October 29, 2003 ; This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/28/1067233172665.html

OCTOBER 7, 2003 : (THE FRENCH ALERT THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT THAT BRIGITTE MAY BE IN AUSTRALIA FOR TERRORISM RELATED ACTIVITY) French authorities contacted Australia again on October 7, warning that Brigitte may have been there for terror-related activity. -----Terror suspect linked to Afghan assassination,AP via The Age ^ | October 28, 2003 | NA

OCTOBER 9, 2003 : (SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA : BRIGITTE IS CAPTURED --See SYDNEY CELL, LET) Brigitte, who allegedly fought with anti-US forces in Afghanistan, was captured on October 9 in Sydney after France warned Australia of his suspected al-Qaeda ties. ----Terror suspect linked to Afghan assassination,AP via The Age ^ | October 28, 2003 | NA

OCTOBER 17, 2003 : (AUSTRALIA DEPORTS BRIGITTE TO FRANCE : See SYDNEY CELL, LET) deported on October 17 ... Brigitte, who originally came from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, was secretly deported [from Australia] less than two weeks ago. He is being held in a prison near Paris under tough anti-terrorism laws administered by high-profile judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere. A former teacher and a convert to Islam, Brigitte is believed to have been questioned by France's counter-terrorism directorate, the DST, for at least four days last week.
He is believed to have been recruited to al-Qaeda while living in the Paris suburbs before being sent to Afghanistan and then Pakistan to work with terrorist groups. ------ "Deportee tie to assassination," By Peter Fray, Paris & Mark Forbes, Canberra, The Age [Australia] , October 29, 2003 ; This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/28/1067233172665.html

OCTOBER 28, 2003 : (SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA : ANTITERRORISM RAIDS RELATED TO WILLIE BRIGITTE MAY HAVE DISRUPTED A DANGEROUS CELL) Authorities have raided several homes in Sydney and interviewed people who may have known ... [Willie Brigitte]....
NSW Premier Bob Carr said Brigitte's arrest may have disrupted a terror cell in Australia. ... "This was a serious character whose presence here was worrying. He came out of training in terrorist training camps," said Carr. "It's likely that they (authorities) are breaking up now some cell that has existed in Sydney." Carr said contacts Brigitte had made and training he had received in Pakistan and Afghanistan "confirmed that he learned about explosives."
...Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock told reporters that French authorities had indicated Brigitte had been asked "to provide shelter to an expert in explosives," without elaborating. French investigators haven't accused Brigitte of a terrorist plot or linked him to any attacks, but said he had spent months in al-Qaeda training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. ----Terror suspect linked to Afghan assassination,AP via The Age ^ | October 28, 2003 | NA

OCTOBER 29, 2003 : (BRIGITTE HAS BEEN LINKED TO THE SEPT 9, 2001 ASSASSINATION OF AFGHAN NORTHERN ALLIANCE LEADER MASSOOD -- SEE SYDNEY CELL, PARIS CELL) The deported Frenchman [Brigitte] at the centre of a suspected Australian-based terrorist cell has been linked to the assassination of Afghanistan's anti-Taliban leader two years ago [in Sept 9, 2001] and alleged terrorist training camps near Paris. Australian intelligence agencies are being updated on the results of Willie Virgile Brigitte's interrogation in Paris, and a spokesman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the allegations were of concern. ...
French authorities are investigating [Willie Virgile] Brigitte's role in the murder of the leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was killed by two men posing as documentary filmmakers two days before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Justice and Police Ministry sources in Paris have reportedly linked Brigitte to the supply of two stolen Belgian passports that assassins Karim Touzani and Kacem Bakkali used to gain access to the northern Afghanistan stronghold of Massoud's northern Afghanistan stronghold. ...Massoud, a pro-Western opponent of the Taliban known as the "Lion of Panjshir", was killed when one of the pseudo documentary makers activated a huge bomb. Both killers died in the blast.
------ "Deportee tie to assassination," By Peter Fray, Paris & Mark Forbes, Canberra, The Age [Australia] , October 29, 2003 ; This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/28/1067233172665.html

NOVEMBER 9? , 2003 Monday : (FRANCE : MAN SUSPECTED OF LINKS TO THE ASSASSINS OF ANTI-TALIBAN N ALLIANCE LEADER AHMED SHAH MASSOUD IS ARRESTED) PARIS, Nov 19, 2003 -- Counter-terrorism agents this week arrested a man suspected of links to the assassins of anti-Taliban military commander Ahmed Shah Massood, France's interior minister said Wednesday. The suspect, not identified by name, was arrested Monday, Nicolas Sarkozy told lawmakers during a question and answer session. Sarkozy said the suspect "was in liaison with the assassins of Commander Massood," the western-backed head of the northern alliance opposed to the Taliban.
Massood was slain on Sept. 9, 2001 in northern Afghanistan, two days before the terror attacks in the United States, by two men posing as journalists.
Judicial officials said the suspect, in his 30s, was being held for questioning by France's counterintelligence agency, the DST. Under France's anti-terrorism laws, a suspect can be held for up to four days before being freed or placed under investigation. The judicial officials, asking not to be further identified, said the suspect was allegedly close to a group of people who carried out training exercises in the late 1990s in the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris.
It was not immediately known whether the suspect had any direct ties to a French man extradited from Australia on Oct.17, Willie Virgile Brigitte, who is suspected of running false passports to Massood's assassins. Brigitte, 35, had organized survival training lessons in Fontainebleau, according to judicial officials.
-------------Man suspected of links to Massood's assassins arrest Highmark Funds ^ | 11/19/03 | AP WorldStream via COMTEX

Remember that thread you posted on the big mosque fiasco in Boston?

NOVEMBER 15, 2006 : (BOSTON, MA : IMAMS OF THREE MOSQUES ARE ARRESTED - THEY ARE CLOSE RELATIVES OF LeT FOUNDER & JAMAAT UL DAAWA HEAD HAFIZ MOHAMMAD SAEED) The Pakistani authorities have confirmed the American findings that the imams of three mosques arrested on November 15 in Boston happen to be the close relatives of the founder of the deadly Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who now heads the Jamaatul Daawa.
Pakistani interior ministry sources said that the three Boston-based imams — Hafiz Muhammad Hannan, Hafiz Muhammad Masood and Hafiz Mohammad Hamid — are close relatives of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. The sources said they have informed the American authorities that while Hafiz Muhammad Masood and Hafiz Hamid happen to be the real brother of Saeed, Hafiz Muhammad Hannan is his brother-in-law.
Hafiz Masood is an imam at the Islamic Centre of New England, Sharon, Massachusetts, Hannan is an imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Lowell, Massachusetts while Hamid is an imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester, Massachusetts.
According to the interior ministry sources in Islamabad, the American authorities had sought confirmation of their findings about three imams who were arrested for visa violations, before being released on a bail of $7,500 each. The sources said the arrest of 30 people in November was part of a wide swoop carried out by the American Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency in eight states and the district of Columbia in connection with an ongoing investigation into a visa fraud scheme. The scheme was designed to help a large number of illegal aliens, primarily from Pakistan, fraudulently obtain religious worker visas to enter or remain in the United States.
Both Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jamaatul Daawa are generally considered to be pro-Osama and an anti-US groups which have been banned by the US State Department in 2002 and 2006 respectively. (Excerpt) Read more at dnaindia.com ...
-----Imams arrested in America are relatives of LeT founder Saeed ( pro-Osama ) DILIGENT MEDIA CORPORATION ^ | December 08, 2006 | Amir Mir Posted on 12/10/2006 7:54:35 AM PST by george76

MAY 28, 2005 : (NY JAZZ MUSICIAN & MARTIAL ARTS EXPERT TARIQ SHAH IS ARRESTED IN A TERRORISM STING OP --- See M F BRENT aka MAHMUD AL MUTAZZIM ) Tarik Shah, a New York jazz musician who was arrested on May 28 on terrorism charges in a federal sting operation. ... -----??By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer, August 4, 2005, 9:37 PM EDT

AUGUST 2005 : (MD : ARREST OF M F BRENT aka MAHMUD AL MUTAZZIM HAS BEEN ARRESTED -- See BALTIMORE CELL, NY JAZZ MUSICIAN TARIK SHAH, LeT, VA JIHAD/PAINTBALL CELL) NEW YORK-- A Maryland paramedic has been arrested by U.S. federal authorities on charges of conspiring to provide material support to a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group linked to terrorist attacks in India and the disputed region of Kashmir.
According to a complaint filed by prosecutors in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Mahmud Faruq Brent of Gwynn Oak, Md., near Baltimore, attended a terrorist training camp in Pakistan and received martial arts training from Tarik Shah, a New York jazz musician arrested in May [2005] on terrorism charges. The complaint also alleges that Brent, also known as Mahmud Al Mutazzim, had contact with Seifullah Chapman, a member of the so-called "Virginia jihad group", that prosecutors said trained for attacks with paintball guns. --- CNN , AUGUST 5, 2005 VIA http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/05/nyregion/05arrest.html

AUGUST 4, 2005 : (M F BRENT aka MAHMUD AL MUTAZZIM IS CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY TO HELP A TERRORIST ORG -- See LeT, TARIK SHAH) NEW YORK -- A Washington, D.C., cab driver [Brent] was charged Thursday with conspiracy to help a terrorist organization after boasting he went to terrorist training camps in Pakistan and agreed to help however he could, prosecutors said Thursday. Mahmud Faruq Brent, of Gwynn Oak, Md., was charged after a New York musician [Tarik Shah] arrested on similar charges in May agreed to meet with him and let the FBI record the encounter, federal prosecutors, the FBI and New York police said in a joint release. -----By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer, August 4, 2005, 9:37 PM EDT
******
.... Mr. Brent, who the authorities said also went by the name of Mahmud al Mutazzim, was an associate of Tarik Shah, a New York jazz musician who was arrested on May 28 [05]on terrorism charges in a federal sting operation.
...According to a criminal complaint against Mr. Brent that was unsealed yesterday, Mr. Brent, in telephone calls and in at least one meeting, described his stay in the camps to Mr. Shah. Mr. Brent told Mr. Shah that he had been in the mountains in Pakistan training with "the mujahadeen, the fighters," the complaint says.
Although Mr. Brent has a home in Baltimore, he was arrested in Newark. His home was searched early yesterday afternoon by agents from the Baltimore Joint Terrorism Task Force. He made his first court appearance late yesterday before a magistrate judge in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The complaint says that Mr. Shah, who was also a martial arts expert, trained Mr. Brent in martial arts when the two men lived in Beacon, N.Y., in 2001 before the Sept. 11 attacks. In recent months, the two men had discussed plans to make a martial arts training video for Muslims in the United States interested in becoming militants, the complaint says. -----??By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer, August 4, 2005, 9:37 PM EDT Article here ??? ------?/By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer, August 4, 2005, 9:37 PM EDT

OCTOBER 2005 : (PAKISTAN : HOME TURF OF LeT SUFFERS EARTHQUAKE -- SEE JAMAAT UD DAWA CHARITY, LONDON AIRLINE PLOT)

MARCH 2006 : (UK : LeT's MOHAMMED AJMAL KHAN IS SENTENCED TO 9 YRS) A Pakistan-trained terrorist, described as global quartermaster for the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, has been sentenced to nine years in prison after he admitted to charges of conspiring to provide funds for terrorist activity. Mohammed Ajmal Khan, 31, who trained in Pakistan and travelled widely in furtherance of terrorist aims, had made available a significant source of funds from an "unidentified but undeniably terrorist-related source," Justice Fulford said in his judgement on Friday.
The Coventry-based Khan allegedly used millions of pounds raised by supporters in the UK to purchase Kevlar body armour, firearms and hi-tech surveillance equipment which were funnelled to rebels in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir.
The judge at Snaresbrook Crown Court called on the UK government to urgently consider introducing greater sentencing powers. The maximum sentence for the charge is 14 years in prison, which had to be reduced because of Khan's guilty plea.
Khan admitted to charges of conspiring to provide money and property to terrorists for four years from March 2001. He also admitted to directing a terrorist organisation and the membership of LeT, outlawed under the Terrorism Act 2000. Firzana Khan, 41, a housewife from Coventry, has also admitted her involvement in the conspiracy. She is yet to be sentenced.
Prosecutor Andrew Edis told the court that Khan held an influential position in the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. He said the organisation was closely affiliated to the Al-Qaeda and was involved in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.-------LeT terrorist imprisoned for 9 years in UK, Hindustan Times ^ | March 18 2006 | Press Trust of India

JULY 2006 : (BOMBAY, INDIA : BOMBAY TRAIN BOMBINGS - See LASHKAR E TAIBA) LET was also accused in the Bombay train bombings in India last month. It has significant resources in Pakistan, Britain, and elsewhere. ------ "Don't LET Up: The transatlantic air plot and the problem of British Islam," Stephen Schwartz, The Weekly Standard, Aug 10/06

AUGUST 2006 : (LONDON AIRLINER PLOT / TRANSATLANTIC PLOT-FOILED; LINKED TO HAFIZ MOHAMMAD SAEED, FOUNDER OF LeT - See LeT, GSPC, RASHID RAUF, ASSASSINATION PLOT AGAINST PAKISTANI LEADER MUSHARRAF) News from Pakistan itself indicates the main trail from there to Heathrow. British and Pakistani sources linked the plan [2006 LondonAirlinePlot] to the Pakistani government's house arrest of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, founder of the armed paramilitary movement Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET, or Army of the Righteous). LET, which is designated a terrorist organization by the State Department, is an ally of al Qaeda and is present wherever Pakistani Sunnis congregate and violence is hatched. ------ "Don't LET Up: The transatlantic air plot and the problem of British Islam," Stephen Schwartz, The Weekly Standard, Aug 10/06
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[See London Airline Plot] Pakistani security sources said yesterday that al-Qaida's "number three" was behind the alleged plot to blow up several transatlantic flights leaving the UK. They also suggested Britain wanted to allow the plotters to try a dry run, without explosives, so as to gather more evidence, but was persuaded to intervene earlier by US and Pakistani authorities.
British detectives are in Islamabad working with the Pakistani security services with regard to Rashid Rauf, the Briton held in connection with the alleged plot. No decision has been made as to whether he will be extradited to Britain.
Abu Faraj al-Libbi, who after Osama bin Laden and the Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri, is suspected of being al-Qaida's third in command, has been named by Pakistani security sources as the main planner of the alleged plot, according to Dawn, a daily newspaper. He has also been accused of being in a plot to assassinate Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, and was arrested last year and turned over to the US.
--------------(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ..."Pakistan says al-Qaida link to plot found ... number three identified as main planner," by Duncan Campbell in Islamabad, The Guardian (UK), August 17, 2006, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1685028/posts

JULY 2006 : (BOMBAY, INDIA : BOMBAY TRAIN BOMBINGS - See LASHKAR E TAIBA) LET was also accused in the Bombay train bombings in India... ------ "Don't LET Up: The transatlantic air plot and the problem of British Islam," Stephen Schwartz, The Weekly Standard, Aug 10/06

AUGUST 8, 2006 : (ADEL TEBOURSKI IS DEPORTED FROM FRANCE TO TUNISIA -- see SEPT 9, 2001 ASSASSINATION OF AFGHAN N ALLIANCE LEADER MASSOUD) France has deported a Tunisian man to his homeland despite protests that he could face torture there. Adel Tebourski, 42, was put on an Air France flight back to Tunisia on Monday, officials said. Tebourski had served a jail sentence in France after being convicted of helping the killers of Afghan resistance leader Ahmed Shah Masood in 2001. The French authorities described Tebourski as a serious threat to national security.
French campaigners have said he could be tortured in Tunisia, and the UN torture committee last month called on Paris to suspend his deportation, the French news agency AFP reports. A court in Paris handed Tebourski a six-year jail term in 2005 for offering logistical support to the killers of Masood.
During the trial, Tebourski admitted he was a member of an Islamist cell linked to one of the Tunisian killers. Three other men were sentenced to between two and seven years by the Paris court.
Masood, a leading general in Afghanistan's anti-Taleban Northern Alliance, was blown up in 2001 by two Tunisian men posing as journalists. The death of the man revered as the "Lion of the Panjshir Valley" stunned the country's then rebel forces, who were soon called to fight alongside US troops in a campaign against the Taleban in late 2001.-------France deports convicted (islamist) Tunisian BBC News ^ | 08/08/2006

AUGUST 2006 : (REPORT : LONDON AIRLINE PLOT WAS BEING FINANCED BY A CHARITY THAT IS THE SUCCESSOR TO THE OUTLAWED LASHKAR E TOIBA [LeT] -- See OCT 2005 EARTHQUAKE) A Pakistani charity that received 10 million dollars from Britain for earthquake relief last year helped finance the alleged bomb plot to blow up US-bound passenger jets, The Washington Post said. "The innocent Pakistani souls in Britain who contributed so generously for the victims of the earthquake didn't know that their money would actually be used for one of the biggest terrorist operations," a Pakistani intelligence official told the daily.
The charity was not mentioned by name, but the official said the funds traced to it helped investigators uncover the alleged plot British authorities thwarted last week and which US officials have tentantively linked to Al-Qaeda.
Another senior Pakistani intelligence official said the charity had received some five million pounds (10 million dollars) from Britain, but that less than half was used for relief operations in the October earthquake that killed 73,000 people. "British intelligence smelled foul play the moment the transfer was made in December last year," said the senior official, who like his colleague asked not to be identified due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
The New York Times on Monday said the British authorities were investigating whether the Jamaat-ud-Dawa Charity, active in the mosques of Britain's largest cities, had provided money to some of the 23 suspects under arrest for the foiled bomb plot.
The charity, according to Pakistani and US officials cited by the Times, is believed to be the successor of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic militant group which the Pakistani government banned in 2002.
A British terrorism expert consulted by The Washington Post said the chaos that followed the devastating earthquake in northern Pakistan last year allowed Pakistani intelligence agents to learn more about the militant groups operating in the area. A spokesman for Jamaat-Ud-Dawa reached by the Post denied any funding by his group of the bomb plot in Britain, insisting that the group condemned terrorism and that it was not under investigation by the Pakistani government.--- Pakistani charity funded airline bomb plot: report (update)," AFP via Yahoo ^ | 8/15/2006 Posted on 08/15/2006 3:11:39 AM PDT by markomalley

NOVEMBER 15, 2006 : (BOSTON, MA : ARREST OF THREE IMAMS FOR VISA VIOLATIONS: Hafiz Muhammad Hannan {imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Lowell, MA}, Hafiz Muhammad Masood {imam at the Islamic Centre of New England in Sharon, MA} and Hafiz Mohammad Hamid {an imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester, MA}------ ALL CLOSELY RELATED TO OR INLAWS OF LASHKAR-E-TOIBA FOUNDER HAFIZ MOHAMMAD SAEED)..-----Imams arrested in America are relatives of LeT founder Saeed ( pro-Osama ) DILIGENT MEDIA CORPORATION ^ | December 08, 2006 | Amir Mir Posted on 12/10/2006 7:54:35 AM PST by george76

NOVEMBER 15, 2006 : (BOSTON, MA : IMAMS OF THREE MOSQUES ARE ARRESTED - THEY ARE CLOSE RELATIVES OF LeT FOUNDER & JAMAAT UL DAAWA HEAD HAFIZ MOHAMMAD SAEED) The Pakistani authorities have confirmed the American findings that the imams of three mosques arrested on November 15 in Boston happen to be the close relatives of the founder of the deadly Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who now heads the Jamaatul Daawa.
Pakistani interior ministry sources said that the three Boston-based imams — Hafiz Muhammad Hannan, Hafiz Muhammad Masood and Hafiz Mohammad Hamid — are close relatives of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. The sources said they have informed the American authorities that while Hafiz Muhammad Masood and Hafiz Hamid happen to be the real brother of Saeed, Hafiz Muhammad Hannan is his brother-in-law.
Hafiz Masood is an imam at the Islamic Centre of New England, Sharon, Massachusetts, Hannan is an imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Lowell, Massachusetts while Hamid is an imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester, Massachusetts.
...The sources said the arrest of 30 people in November was part of a wide swoop carried out by ...[ICE] in eight states and the district of Columbia in connection with an ongoing investigation into a visa fraud scheme. The scheme was designed to help a large number of illegal aliens, primarily from Pakistan, fraudulently obtain religious worker visas to enter or remain in the United States.
Both Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jamaatul Daawa are generally considered to be pro-Osama and an anti-US groups which have been banned by the US State Department in 2002 and 2006 respectively. (Excerpt) Read more at dnaindia.com ...-----Imams arrested in America are relatives of LeT founder Saeed ( pro-Osama ) DILIGENT MEDIA CORPORATION ^ | December 08, 2006 | Amir Mir Posted on 12/10/2006 7:54:35 AM PST by george76

FEBRUARY 2007 : (USA : BENKAHLA IS CONVICTED -- See VA JIHAD/PAINTBALLCELL, SYDNEY LeT CELL'S FAHEEM LODHI OF AUSTRALIA, SYDNEY LeT CELL'S WILLIE BRIGITTE OF FRANCE, MOHAMMED AJMAL KHAN IN THE UK, MALIK AL TUNISI OF ALQAEDA-IN-IRAQ, IBRAHIM BUISIR OF IRELAND, AND MANAF KASMURI OF MALAYSIA) In February 2007, Benkahla was convicted of making materially false statements both in his grand jury appearances in 2004, as well as to the FBI in 2004. These false statements included his denial of his involvement with an overseas jihad training camp in 1999, as well as his asserted lack of knowledge about individuals with whom he was in contact.
During trial, it was revealed that the grand jury and FBI sought in 2004 to question Benkahla about his contacts with Ibrahim Buisir of Ireland, and Manaf Kasmuri of Malaysia, both of whom are designated by the United States as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, as well as those with Ahmed Abu Ali, his friend and fellow student at the Islamic University of Medina, until both were arrested by Saudi authorities in June 2003.
Further, the trial revealed that the grand jury and FBI sought to question Benkahla about his contacts with an individual suspected of being Malik al-Tunisi, a facilitator for the al-Zarqawi terrorist network in Iraq. The trial also for the first time publicly revealed that, in 2004, Masoud Khan told the FBI that Lashkar-e-Taiba had previously solicited him to case a chemical plant in Maryland.
A total of twelve individuals have been convicted in connection with this case; one defendant, Caliph Basha Abdur-Raheem, was acquitted at trial in 2004. Moreover, cooperating witnesses in this case have testified in successful terrorism prosecutions of Faheem Lodhi in Australia, Willie Brigitte in France, and Mohammed Ajmal Khan in the United Kingdom.---------“Virginia Jihad” Member Sentenced to 121 Months in Prison, July 24, 2007 (Alexandria, VA) http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae/Pressreleases/07-JulyPDFArchive/07/20070724benkahlanr.html

NOVEMBER 25, 2008 : (UK : ARREST OF LeT -LINKED RAHEEL SHEIKH, ONE OF THE 7/11/2006 MUMBAI TRAIN BOMBINGS) reported arrest of Lashkar -e-Toiba linked Raheel Sheikh by the Interpol in London. Raheel is one of the alleged masterminds of the conspiracy and was involved in the funding of the July 11, 2006, Mumbai serial train blasts that killed nearly 200 commuters and wounded over 500 people on that fateful day.-----?

NOVEMBER 26, 2008 : (MUMBAI, INDIA : TERRORIST ATTACK ON TOURIST SITES --See LeT, SMI) Suspected Islamic terrorists have attacked at least eight places in Mumbai, the financial hub of India on November 26 evening. They fired indiscriminately, and lobbed grenades around while making their way to Hotels and Railway Stations and Airport. At least 60 people, many foreigners have reportedly died and nearly 150 injured in these terror attacks. Times of India report quoting hospital sources, indicated that at least 80 people were dead and 250 injured in the terror attacks. There are unconfirmed reports of a Hostage situation also in Taj Mahal and Oberoi Hotels (with most foreign guests). The first incident of firing was reported at Leopold Cafe, a well-known watering hole for tourists and foreigners in Colaba. The second incident was near Taj Mahal hotel, the third was near Oberoi hotel in Nariman Point and the fourth one was at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station. Also a major blast was also reported in Vile Parle in suburban Mumbai. As per the latest reports around 15 people, half of them foreigners are taken hostage on the roof of the Taj Mahal Hotel.
The needle of the suspicion is on the Lashkar- e- Toiba and Student Islamic Movement of India combine (Now they credibly calling and proving them as Indian Mujahedeen terror group).----?

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