HK terror link as 5 held in Macau - Pakistanis Arrested With Plans for more US Targets

South China Morning Post ^ | 9-17-01 | HARALD BRUNING

[tallhappy]

Ming Pao stated US Consulate in Hong Kong was closed, abruptly with no word on when it would open.

[tallhappy]

Channel NewsAsia

September 17, 2001 Monday

SECTION: ASIA PACIFIC

HEADLINE: Macau police arrest five in US terror probe

BODY: Police in Macau have arrested five Pakistani nationals after finding documents supposedly containing instructions to attack US targets there and in Hong Kong, a government source said. The arrests late on Sunday followed last week attacks which killed thousands of people in New York and Washington.

The source was quoted as saying, "...the documents seized appear to contain instructions to attack American targets in Hong Kong and Macau in the case of an American attack on Afghanistan."

A Macau government spokesman declined to comment.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Either there were vast plans for attacks all over the world that would be carried out over several weeks. Or a lot of these countries are arresting people on very flimsy stuff to please the U.S..

[Mo1]

My guess .. targets all over the world .. they may hit US targets .. but these countries need to remember .. it's also their country that may be hit by these terrorists

With that said .. I also wouldn't be surprised to see many just use this as an excuse to round people up ..

[tallhappy]

Ming Pao said that the information given to the Police by the US Consulate was specific down to full names and nationalities.

[Mo1]

Yes but they can only bully if you let them .. seems to me .. some around the world need to find their brass ones .. and I can think of a few countries off the top of my head ...

[AlaskaErik]

Five men were arrested in Macau last night following last week's terrorist attacks in America, and documents were seized carrying instructions for raids on US targets in Hong Kong and Macau, sources said.

This makes no sense. I can't imagine why this filth would go for an attack against US targets in Red China. It makes no sense at all. There is something else going on.

[Hillary 666]

Sounds like a Chinese smokescreen to me.

What's up with the pictures? In the top one, the guy in the purple shirt looks like he is being led out of a bar because he had too many beers (notice the sh!t-eating grin and the death-grip that the guy on the right has on his arm). In the bottom pic, the guy looks like he fell asleep on the toilet or a bus after he had too many beers. What is China doing, cracking down on drunks and pinning a terrorist label on them for a diversion?

[tallhappy]

AFX - Asia

September 17, 2001 Monday

SECTION: GENERAL

HEADLINE: US consulate in Hong Kong closes after reported Macau arrests/US attack links

DATELINE: HONG KONG

BODY:
  The US consulate general in Hong Kong has been
closed indefinitely to review security measures, a spokesman said.
    The move comes after Macau police reportedly detained five Pakistanis on
suspicion of links to Tuesday's attacks in New York and Washington.
    The consulate general spokesman said the mission will be closed
indefinitely starting on Monday as it needs to assess current security
measures.
    He did not elaborate, adding a decision on reopening will be made at "a
later date."
    A Hong Kong Police spokesman Monday declined to comment on the reported
arrests in Macau.
    "We don't comment on operational matters," he said.
    Portugal's Lusa news agency, quoting a spokesman for the Macau  government,
reported earlier that Macau police had detained the five men on  a tipoff from
the US consulate in Hong Kong, which had provided their  identities.
    The Pakistanis, detained at a hotel and in a private apartment, carried
expired visas. Two suitcases and a travel bag were seized, the report said.

[Lake]

They don't look like Pakistani.

[Lake]

"the guy in the purple shirt looks like he is being led out of a bar because he had too many beers "

Looks like he's very happy. Interesting pic.

[oneway]

The five men had been arrested for their suspected involvement with groups that could be connected with last week's terrorist attacks in the United States

Arrests for "suspected" involvement...desperate times call for desperate measures...smells like a rat...is a rat...until proven otherwise...civilization is on trial...no defense seems inadaquate

[Bogie]

Flimsy perhaps, but in that part of the world, for quite some time, and I'm thinking of the Philippines, Muslims have been raising money by kidnapping people. So if it is flimsy, it certainly is believable to people who live there. And, it really is a problem for them, that seems to relate to what happened in New York. And who knows, maybe actually does!

[duck soup]

US looking for 6 Pakistani suspects MEXICO CITY: US authorities have asked Mexican officials to search for several suspects in Tuesday's terrorist bombings, including six Pakistanis and two Bolivians national, officials and media reported. Mexican Attorney General Rafael Macedo told local radio nine or 10 people were on the list. It was not immediately clear whether the same list was also given to authorities in other countries. "We have a list of these people, though this does not mean they are in our country," Macedo said. He said the United States, which shares a 3,200-km border with Mexico, "asked us for collaboration in searching for them, in localising them." The Milenio daily yesterday said the list received by Mexican auhtorities, names six Pakistanis, two Bolivians and another person whose nationality was not known. The daily named the suspects as Pakistanis Muhammad Asif, Rana Abdul Gafhoor, Imran Asjid Husain, Mangat Sajid Hussain, Malik Tahir Mahmood and Muhammed Shahbaz; Bolivians Maria Angela Bustillo Molina and Ana Maria Vedia Barron; as well as Imtiaz Ahmad. Meanwhile, Portuguese authorities are investigating two Iranians who were detained in the Azores after trying to board a plane to Canada with false passports, officials in Lisbon said yesterday. Prime Minister Antonio Guterres said the two men were being investigated in cooperation with the US authorities, although no FBI agents are present on the Atlantic islands. However the interior ministry said there was no evidence linking the pair to Tuesday's attacks in the US. ( AFP ) I wonder, sure would like to see the names. This was posted on the 13th.

[Hillary 666]

If the Chinese actually caught up with one of the people involved in the terrorism, they would take him to the emperor's palace and give him a medal. This whole thing stinks.

[Mo1]

You may be right ... I wouldn't put anything past China .. nor would I put anything past these terrorist either ..

As with most news .. there is more to this story

[duck soup]

And as for the Bolivians who were with them. Can you say Panama Canal and Chinese agents.