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1999 late - 2001 summer : (ITALY : MILAN CELL CONVERSATIONS ARE OVERHEARD-- See AL QAEDA) The overheard conversations, which took place in apartments, offices and even automobiles in and around Milan, include numerous discussions of false travel documents and the clandestine movement of al-Qaida fighters across international borders — the twin specialties, investigators say, of the erstwhile Milan al-Qaida base. - "Milan cell linked to al-Qaida operatives, " By John Crewdson and Tom Hundley, Chicago Tribune via Seattle Times June 30, 2002

JULY ? 2000 : (A. ABDULRAHMAN CONVERSATION WITH MAHMOUD ES SAYED aka ABU SALEH ABOUT IMPENDING ATTACKS -- SEE 9/11, MILAN CELL) Recorded conversation of [Abdulsalam Ali Ali] Abdulrahman remarking to [Abdelkader Mahmoud Es Sayed] aka Abu Saleh about an impending attack that "will wreak such a great havoc" and "leave them all dumbfounded." - "Milan cell linked to al-Qaida operatives, " By John Crewdson and Tom Hundley, Chicago Tribune via Seattle Times June 30, 2002

NOVEMBER 1997 : (LUXOR, EGYPT : LUXOR MASSACRE -- ES SAYED aka ABU SALEH WHO PLAYED A ROLE IN THE ATTACK -- See MILAN CELL) He was convicted in absentia in Egypt for his alleged role in the killings of 58 foreign tourists at Luxor in November 1997----- "Italy (Local Prosecutor) Probes Possible CIA Role in Abduction (of Islamist)," Chicago tribune via Yahoo! News ^ | 2/25/2005 | John Crewdson

AUGUST 2000 : (ITALY : AL QAEDA : MILAN CELL : YEMENI HINTS TO MAHMOUD ES SAYED aka SALEH OF POSSIBLE INTENT TO DESTROY AIRCRAFT) During one wiretapped conversation between Abdelkader Mahmoud Es Sayed aka [Abu Saleh] and a Yemeni in August of 2000, the Yemeni tells Es Sayed that "God willing, I hope that I can bring you a window or piece of airplane the next time we meet." (This same Yemeni has also once referred to "studying airplanes.") - "Terrorists' Twin Tower Images, Secret Porn Messages ," ABC News , 5/8/03

AUGUST 2000 : (MILAN CELL, ABDULRAHMAN VISITS ES SAYED aka SALEH IN MILAN, CONVERSATIONS ABOUT AL QAEDA OPERATIVES IN US CLAIMING TO BE EGYPTIAN, 'MAIL ORDER BRIDE MAGAZINE TRICK') A suspected al-Qaida organizer, Abdulsalam Ali Ali Abdulrahman, paid a brief visit to Abu Saleh in Milan and was overheard referring to "some brothers who entered America thanks to a mail-order-bride magazine trick," but who "claimed to be Egyptians and kept their true identity concealed." - "Milan cell linked to al-Qaida operatives, " By John Crewdson and Tom Hundley, Chicago Tribune via Seattle Times June 30, 2002

OCTOBER 2000 : (USS COLE BOMBED TWO MONTHS AFTER ABDULRAHMAN CONVERSATION WITH MAHMOUD ES SAYED aka SALEH) Two months after Abdulrahman's remarks to Abu Saleh about an impending attack that "will wreak such a great havoc" and "leave them all dumbfounded," suspected al-Qaida terrorists in the Yemeni port of Aden detonate a bomb next to the destroyer USS Cole, killing 17. - "Milan cell linked to al-Qaida operatives, " By John Crewdson and Tom Hundley, Chicago Tribune via Seattle Times June 30, 2002

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DECEMBER 2000 : (FRANKFURT, GERMANY : CELL PHONE CALLS INTERCEPTED BY ITALY LEAD TO ARREST IN FRANKFURT OF FOUR SUSPECTS ; STRASBOURG/CHRISTMAS MARKET PLOT IS FOILED; FRANKFURT CELL APPARENTLY LINKED TO MILAN CELL - See MILAN CELL'S ESSID SAMI BEN KHEMAIS, BOUKARI, SABOUR, CHEMICALS WEAPONS CACHES) Suspicion [see Milan Cell] emerged last December [2000] when German authorities arrested four suspected terrorists in a raid on two apartments in Frankfurt, Italian prosecutor Stefano Dambruoso said last week [November 2001]. German authorities seized conventional arms and explosives and found a chemical weapons manual, Dambruoso said.
The suspects were accused of plotting to bomb an outdoor market in Strasbourg, France, at the end of 2000. Several of them had been in contact with Essid Sami Ben Khemais, later identified by Italian authorities as a top al-Qaida operative in Europe who headed a terrorist cell in Milan. --
-------- "Tapes hint at cyanide plot by al-Qaida," ©Associated Press via St. Petersberg Times Online (FL), December 1, 2001
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Information from other European law enforcement agencies, including cell phone conversations picked up by Italian authorities, led to the arrests of four suspects in December 2000. During a search of two Frankfurt apartments at the time of the initial arrests, authorities seized 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of a chemical that can be used to manufacture explosives, as well as homemade detonators, a hand grenade, submachine guns, dismantled rifles, revolvers and ammunition. The Italian report said they also found detailed handwritten instructions for making and use of the explosives and instructions on the use of toxic substances in lethal doses. Four suspects in planning Strasbourg, France New Year's Eve 2000 attacks are arrested.
Information from other European law enforcement agencies, including cell phone conversations picked up by Italian authorities, led to the arrests of four suspects in December 2000 and a fifth the following April.
------- "Terror suspect tells German court: 'You're all Jews," by Melissa Eddy, AP via Jerusalem Post , April 16, 2002