Revealed: the London sleeper at heart of terror conspiracy

A STUDENT in international trade from south London spent up to five years helping to prepare attacks on targets in mainland Europe and the United States designed to paralyse western countries.

Investigators probing Osama Bin Laden's international network are focusing on a British terrorist cell linked to a London mosque, which helped to plan the suicide hijackings in America and provided support for attacks on military and civilian targets in Europe.

Zacarias Moussaoui, a 33- year-old French-Moroccan, is being questioned by the FBI as the 20th hijacker in the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11.

At first it was thought that Moussaoui was a minor figure. But security sources now say that as a "sleeper" in Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, he had a pivotal role in linking up to 50 members of European cells.

While claiming welfare benefits and studying at public libaries in London, he was training to join the 19 hijackers who seized control of the aircraft. They claim that at the same time he linked up with two brothers suspected of plotting assaults on the American embassy in Paris and Nato's headquarters in Brussels later this year.

Police in Britain and France are still searching for his partner, a north African woman in her thirties, who is said to have been an organiser and recruiter for the planned attacks in European cells. She left the flat she shared with Moussaoui in south London several months ago and has not been seen since.

Members of their terrorist cell boasted that, by creating panic in America and Europe, they could bring the "infidel" - the non-Muslim world - to its knees.

German investigators said that a telephone call was intercepted between Moussaoui and another terrorist suspect who shared an apartment with Mohammed Atta, the leader of the hijackers. The call was made by Moussaoui while he was at a flight school in Oklahoma earlier this year and is the first substantial evidence linking him to the group which carried out the September 11 attacks.

The revelation will increase fears that Britain is being used as a haven by terrorists. Western intelligence agencies are examining more than 40 British banks, companies and other organisations suspected of being used to launder cash for Bin Laden's campaign.

Last week Tony Blair, the prime minister, authorised a £16m "emergency" payment to Britain's intelligence services - MI5 and MI6 - to cover the extra cost of hunting for the terrorists behind the attacks.

Most is being ploughed into MI5 anti-terrorist specialists. Linguists specialising in the Afghan language of Pashto are being recruited as officers pursue hundreds of leads.

Yesterday Kamel Daoudi, another terrorist suspect, was returned to France after being arrested in Leicester on Tuesday. He is suspected of being a bomb expert behind plans to kill hundreds of military and civilian personnel in aircraft and lorry bomb attacks in Paris and Brussels.

Another 10 of the terrorist hijackers passed through Heathrow and Gatwick on their way to the United States. Their flights originated in Dubai, a staging post for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

American authorities have applied for the extradition of a British-based flying instructor who allegedly taught four of the hijackers and made certain they were "capable and trained" to carry out the atrocities.

Lotfi Raissi, who lived in Colnbrook, near Slough, Berkshire, is contesting the extradition, which could take three years and cost £1m of public money.

The government is considering a new extradition bill to speed up procedures. The bill is likely to curtail the right to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

More than 30 suspects have been rounded up in raids across Europe since September 11. The groups were plotting against targets in Strasbourg and Marseilles as well as Paris and Brussels.

Jerome and David Courtellier, two brothers being held in France for suspected terrorist offences, had stayed with Moussaoui and his girlfriend in south London, but had travelled freely between Britain and France.

Moussaoui was arrested in Minnesota for immigration violations on August 17, a month before the attacks.

He had settled in Britain in 1992 and enrolled on a college course in overseas trade, endorsed by the Institute of Export. He lived on the top floor of a housing association block in Streatham, south London. One former neighbour said she saw him entering and leaving the building until last summer: "He spoke very good English, was well-dressed and seemed intelligent. He kept himself to himself."

Abd-Samad Moussaoui said Zacarias, his brother, had travelled to London from southern France with a plan to learn English and work in the City.

He had undergone a personality change after his best friend was killed by Russian soldiers in Chechnya.

"He was like an open, fertile field; unfortunately the crop that was planted was bad," he said. During return visits to France, Zacarias was increasingly bitter and critical of British society. "He said it was unjust, it was a very hard society. People were interested only in money," said Abd-Samad.

"My brother started to say things that I found very shocking. He defended mass murders in Algeria and said it was legitimate to murder civilians and to excommunicate an entire people if they were not following the pure form of Islam. He also told members of my family about his trips to Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. What was he doing there?"

In an earlier comment, Abd-Samad said: "I noticed a change in his attitude when he came back to France. He became a racist and would use the pejorative word 'toubab' to describe white people."

There is concern that Moussaoui lived undisturbed in Britain, even though he was being sought in France by the DST, the French equivalent of MI5. Aicha, his mother, said she was visited by officers of the French security service more than 18 months ago. They asked her to contact them if she heard from her son or learnt where he was living.

She said she last saw him in 1997 when he visited her in Narbonne in the south of France. "He said he was working in various temporary jobs during the day and studying at night.

"He also said he was learning Arabic and thinking about going into business selling halal meat," she said.

"He didn't speak very much and when I questioned him it was hard to get details. Most answers were very vague. Eventually he went back to England."

Yes indeed, "moderate moslems" are ideal citizens.

You forgot your < /sarcasm > tag. Are we beginning to see a pattern here concerning the worldwide Muslim community? Time will tell. If the war escalates into a US vs. the Arab/Muslim world scenario, it will only be because THEY wish it. They have the chance NOW to cooperate and ally themselves with the civilized Western world, or years down the road all bets will be off. If we are to win this, we will have no other choice.

From the article: Jerome and David Courtellier, two brothers being held in France for suspected terrorist offences, had stayed with Moussaoui and his girlfriend in south London, but had travelled freely between Britain and France....Zacarias was increasingly bitter and critical of British society. "He said it was unjust, it was a very hard society. People were interested only in money,"

Frenchmen? How much has the terrorist network infested France? Radical Islam seems to flourish in socialist countries.

If moslem arabs in the West are feeling put upon, tough s#!+. This is WAR! We must not permit the terrorists a "sanctuary" behind our lines.

First, we need to round up all non-citizen Muslims. Most are here "legally", and some aren't. Nonetheless, all should be photgraphed and fingerprinted then deported to their home country. All of them are potential terrorists, even though most probably aren't. No matter. Our survival should come first, not their "feelings".

Second, we need to set up an airtight tracking system for all non-citizens. If those deported want to reapply for readmittance, let them do so under the new system. We need to start from ground zero with tight immigration policies, not the feel-good scrim of the Clinton-era which was set up to enhance the voting ranks of the Democrat Party.

Third, we need to infiltrate and carefully scrutinize those Muslim groups remaining behind, who may have aided and abbetted their fellow co-religionists. Many of them are suspect themselves and have been more than happy to aid and protect the radicals among them.

Without some solid domestic security at home, our efforts abroad will be constantly truncated by fear. If this is truly a war we mean to win, we must do it with unabashed vigor and clarity of whom the real enemies are in this conflict. Most of them are clearly identifiable as Muslim, so that should narrow the possiblities immensely. Look for screams of outrage of "profiling" and "racism". So what? This is one war we can't afford to lose.

None of that will happen now, but all that and more will happen after a few more 9-11 level events.

Unhappily, I have to agree with you.

One would think the shock of the events earlier this month would jar all of us out of our self-imposed PC lethargy. Well, it did for some, but not nearly enough. Being Liberally Minded is a habit very hard to break for those with the mindset. Outrage has pretty much died down to hand-wringing, flag-waving and calling for bin Laden's head. This war is not yet perceived as the deadly conflict it actually is. Many still look at it as an unpleasant TV episode that is already getting slightly boring.

"Pass the remote, Maude...!"

The enemy wants to bring our civilization crashing down around our heads. We increasingly seem to want to bring just a few notables to "justice" then go back to life as normal. Even the calls for addressing the "root causes" of Muslim anger are daily getting stronger in the Liberal, anti-war and Muslim communities. Soon that will be most of what we hear; ...until the next catastrophic outrage committed on our soil, which it will. Then the cycle will start all over again, but with a few more converts.

An enemy that hides among his "moderate" coreligionists in the West in order to commit mass murder from hiding must not be surprised if the entire group is interned or expelled. Self defense is a natural human right. If a mass murdering enemy hides perfectly among his group, the entire group must be rendered harmless. If moslem arabs in the West are feeling put upon, tough s#!+. This is WAR! We must not permit the terrorists a "sanctuary" behind our lines.....Travis McGee

Well said!

IMHO, the two most difficult aspects of this new (and, in many ways, more insidious, underground) kind of warfare, are

(as I said above) that the free and open nature of our society renders us infinitely more vulnerable to assault from hostile forces than we would otherwise be. There is simply nothing we can do about that heightened vulnerability, other than to abrogate some of our own (God-given, Constitutionally-guaranteed) freedoms in an effort to shackle the enemy. Of course, that will never be an option. It is precisely that freedom and openness which the enemy abhors, and it is precisely that freedom and openness which was under attack on the morning of 9/11 (unfortunately, many innocents were killed in their symbolic preview of things yet to come).

that the enemy places no value on human life, other than to the degree that it can contribute to the realization of their evil, insidious, agenda to attain power over others. Another strike against us. Simply put, their target is the eradication of individual liberty. Ours is its defense, at any cost....even the relinquishing of a number of precious lives, so that others might continue to enjoy the fresh air, rather than the stench of subjugation.

By definition, those who seek to enslave others do not see life as possessing any intrinsic value. Valuing liberty implies valuing the lives in which it is instilled. Conversely, de-valuing (or disdaining) liberty implies de-valuing (even rendering irrelevant) the lives that would enjoy it.

They are consumed with the desire to mold the world to their specifications (and humanity itself be damned). The amount of blood that is spilled is irrelevant. The amount of destruction visited upon lands and peoples who have lived in relative peace and contentment for generations is of no concern. The number of ungodly actions required to achieve fulfillment of their agenda represents no significant obstacle. Using (their perverted vision of) 'god' as a mock-leader/director/instigator of their atrocities is a strategy that will be employed without conscience, if it suits their purpose.

Hard choices need to be made. If a hundred cadres similar to each of those which hijacked our airliners were hell-bent on infecting our water or air supply with biological/chemical contaminants, they could bring us to our knees. Preventing (as best we can) such a deadly occurrence, or inflicting a fatal chink in their armor, need not necessarily require the sacrifice of large numbers of our military. But it will require that we dispense with the leftist/pacifist-inspired modern principles of warfare (expressly constructed for use by idiots). It is time to begin once again employing 'local' (Afghan, Iraqi, et al) undercover thugs to infiltrate and exterminate the terrorists who hide in their midst. The self-defeating Torricelli amendment, and other, similar legislation and Executive Orders that tie the hands that we need to use in our own defense, must be dismantled, or our modern principles of warfare (expressly constructed for use by idiots) may well be our undoing.

If we are not successful in stopping them, the world will have ceased to be a place in which any of us would want to live. No sacrifice is too high to prevent the realization of their view of utopia by means of subjugation. Mankind, with all of its failings, was meant for better than that.

I propose to get the bad guys --- among the Afghans, those responsible --- but also the perps from other regions. Most of the perps are from outside of Afghanistan; almost all the money is; nearly 100 % of the intel operations are.

And I would prepare for war --- something the U.S.A. is NOT doing.

There will be NO sanctuaries. Not inside Afghanistan. Nor outside Afghanistan.

Confessors get their chance with immediate termination upon parole violation, without regard to collateral anything.

I expect the bad guys to do everything to hide behind women and children and the innocent as well as the misled.

We do our best to get the best intel, so that we hit the perps. That is how we minimize the damage to others; NOT, by avoiding our duty.

This war is against the evil which misleads people, which misled Germans, which misled Italians, which misled French to betray their neighbors ... up to and during World War II.

Now, with the decades - long help by the socialists' building the world - wide terrorist network, that monster has re-created on its own. The terror again has such a grip, that many more nations and regions than should, are equivocating. That tells you how bad it is; how many have lost the courage of individual responsibility.

I'm going to hold some socialists accountable. In particular, because their lust for centralized power, parallels that of the religious frauds who use that exact same power to mislead people into thinking they're earning God's favor ... when they should be desiring his love.

This is NOT a religious war.

It is, however, a war against false prophets, who rob people of God's love, by blinding them to the gift of asking forgiveness before God, and which false prophets, also seek to supplant mankind's free will to seek God, with the "care" of a false state.

If you can find one believer in Islam, who would ask forgiveness and resist the perps who slaughtered thousands on Sept. 11th, than Islam is not to blame. And likewise, not Judaism, nor Christianity, nor any other religion of God, is to blame.

Rather: Lust is to blame; vanity is to blame.

The perps could have used their remarkable resources to feed, clothe and shelter the very people such false "leaders" profess to be representing "solidly."

So much for "policy makers."

This is not a war against "hate crimes." That pile of straw is a deception created by socialists, plain and simple, should we care to note.

It is a war against corruption which is insidious and widespread, and the most basic of the traits of the false prophets.

We are at war against corruption.

Not that you asked, but such is the current plan, here.

This is NOT a religious war. Posted by First_Salute Uh, sorry, the terrorists believe it is a religious war and have vowed to continue it to our death. They recruit fanatical youth on the basis of this being a religious war. It IS a religious war, to them. They seek to embroil all of Islam in this religious war of theirs. You will have to understand that if you are to go beyond that and see how to thwart their ends.

Here are two suggestions that fit the waging of war against terrorists:

1- make airplanes a non-issue for use as weapons by closing off the cockpit from the passenger cabin, period, whatever it takes cost-wise to do it;
2- deport all aliens from Middle Eastern or countries where Islam is the predominant religion (including Indonesia, etc.).

Until you realize that we are in a war of SURVIVAL of our society and culture, you cannot fathom such drastic measures as necessary.

Here is a link to a couple of essays that can help to cqatch you up to speed on this religious war.

Simply put, their target is the eradication of individual liberty. Ours is its defense, at any cost....even the relinquishing of a number of precious lives, so that others might continue to enjoy the fresh air, rather than the stench of subjugation.
By definition, those who seek to enslave others do not see life as possessing any intrinsic value. Valuing liberty implies valuing the lives in which it is instilled. Conversely, de-valuing (or disdaining) liberty implies de-valuing (even rendering irrelevant) the lives that would enjoy it.
The self-defeating Torricelli amendment, and other, similar legislation and Executive Orders that tie the hands that we need to use in our own defense, must be dismantled, or our modern principles of warfare (expressly constructed for use by idiots) may well be our undoing.

If we are not successful in stopping them, the world will have ceased to be a place in which any of us would want to live. No sacrifice is too high to prevent the realization of their view of utopia by means of subjugation. Mankind, with all of its failings, was meant for better than that.

Your reply is full of wisdom. Thank you, Joanie.

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