Posted on 10/20/2001 6:17:58 AM PDT by maquiladora
China paid Osama bin Laden several million dollars for access to unexploded American cruise missiles left over from the US attack on his bases three years ago, a senior alleged al-Qaida agent in Europe has claimed.
The alleged agent's account is contained in the transcript of a secretly taped conversation between supporters of Osama bin Laden obtained by the Guardian. His revelation emerged as President Bush yesterday announced that he had won Beijing's support for the war on terrorism. After his first face-to-face meeting with China's President Jiang Zemin in Shanghai, Mr Bush said: "President Jiang and the government stand side by side with the American people as we fight this evil force".
The Chinese government has denied it obtained US missiles after the 1998 raid, which was carried out in reprisal for the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Beijing is said to have made a deal with al-Qaida to acquire the missiles despite the fact that it was facing a growing threat from Muslim separatists in the Xinjiang region. In 1999, China accused Bin Laden's organisation of training members of the independence movement in guerrilla warfare.
The US fired 75 missiles into Afghanistan during the attack on Bin Laden's camps on August 20, 1998. A report four months later in the Pakistani newspaper Ausaf, cited Taliban sources as saying that 40 were found unexploded.
The story of what happened next was taken up by Lased Ben Heni in a conversation with associates this year. Ben Heni, a 32-year-old Libyan arrested in Munich last week, is accused by Italian prosecutors of being the liaison officer between two terrorist cells owing allegiance to al-Qaida in Frankfurt and Milan.
On March 9, in a rundown flat in the Milan suburb of Gallarate, he met the leader of the Italian cell, Sami Ben Khemais Essid (alias "Saber") and told him of his experiences in Afghanistan visiting Osama bin Laden's camps. Unknown to the two men, the flat had been bugged by officers of the Italian anti-terrorist police.
"Perhaps the Americans are convinced by the bombardment of the sheikh's [Bin Laden's] training centres," Ben Heni is quoted as saying. "For them, it was a victory. But, in fact, it was a defeat because the majority of the missiles didn't even explode."
After a digression, the transcript continues: "With these weapons, he [Bin Laden] has boosted his financial resources. From every part of the world businessmen who hate Americans have come to study American missile strategy.
"In particular, businessmen have come from China. He works a great deal with China. He's got good relations with them.
"You see them and you ask 'But what are they doing here?' In the end, you understand that they work for the sheikh and that they came to study these missiles. "Thanks to the money that comes from these studies from outside, he created the army of mohajedin headed by Omar Zayan (or Zaghan) in Chechnya".
Later, in a passage the meaning of which is not entirely clear, Ben Heni is heard to say: "When [Bin Laden] saw that the Afghan people, who were dying of hunger, passed missiles to sheikh Messaoud, he bargained with the Chinese and sold them to them for an enormous sum - I think $10m dollars - but only after the sheikh had studied them".
The transcript is the first supporting evidence from inside al-Qaida of sporadic reports in the months following the 1998 attack that China had acquired two unexploded Tomahawk missiles. In March 1999, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman described the reports as "groundless".
President Jiang told a joint press conference after his meeting with Mr Bush yesterday that they had reached a "consensus" on terrorism, although he urged that the anti-terrorist action should "hit accurately and also avoid innocent casualties".
Actually, it sounds like something that would appear in the
National Enquirer.
Whenever I parse an article for truth, I look for sentences
that begin like this:
".....The alleged agent's account......"
Alleged agent's account. They're telling me right up front that they
aren't even sure if it's an actual agent's account or not. It's their
disclaimer. Everything before and after that point can be read as
a soft-paper novel.
Do they have a "funnies page"? Let's post some old "Ally Oop"
comics.
Unless Clinton had the warheads intentionally disabled.
Then again, (doubting myself), how would the consipracy be kept quiet?
Then again, (knowing the answer), a little visit in the dark of night . . .
Right. There is no way that 40 of these missiles did not go off. There is no way that 1 of them did not go off.
It is typical Islamic lying to try to turn US against the Chinese. They release the story so it comes out the day Bush meets with the Chinese. Why now. Why not a week ago or two weeks ago.
The fact is we did not send 75 missiles to Afghanistan. Clinton shot so many of them in Kosovo that we were very nearly out of them.
There was a lot of speculation at the time that Clinton has only fired a few becuase that was all we had left. Clintons defense budget had not authorized building more and lots of Republicans were angry about cuts. The ones fired on Afghanistan were out of the same batch used in Sebbia, Kosovo and Iraq. There were zero failures in Kosovo and zero failures in the Gulf war.
There were a couple in the Gulf war that hit the wrong targets and a couple were shot down. But they certainly went off when they hit the ground.
Do you remember General Horner saying that some of them were shot down. He said that is the reason they went off in residential areas. Sadam was trying to say we were targeting residential areas.
Cite any media you would like to, it's all propaganda.
I think "Common Tater" has it right; why come out with that story
on the day Bush meets with the Chinese?
Propaganda, sheer unadulterated propaganda.
It's that way during any war, but this type of war is going
to bring things up and out, that we never imagined existed.
It's a war on many soils, and we're not going to know
where we're going next, until they tell us. I would expect
a deluge of propaganda, not be surprised by it.
I'm glad to see so many of us are attempting to dispel it
whenever we hear of it. It's very important to do so, even
if only in these type forum settings.
FreeRepublic.com is read by many, contrary to what some
here assume. Many readers leave this site with renewed and
enlightened thought regarding current and old topics.
It's been highly regarded as a source for truthful news examination;
I hope we can keep it that way.
Thanks
Nothing is perfect, and there could have ben one or two which failed to function, but not 40 out of 75.
I agree with those who say this is propaganda.
The fact is, this operation occurred in August, 1998--eight months before we went to war against Yugoslavia. Before you pontificate, at least get your facts straight. Our cruise missile supply was nearly depleted before Yugoslavia because of Clinton's misuse of them in Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Investor's Business Daily Editorial 9/1/98 "We took President Clinton's word that bombing Sudan and Afghanistan was necessary and that our forces punished the right people. We should have known better. His original story, as usual, isn't holding up to scrutiny. On Aug. 20, three days after half-confessing to lying about Monica Lewinsky, Clinton ordered our military to pump as many as 20 Tomahawk missiles into a plant in Sudan, a Muslim nation with which we have heretofore had no major quarrel. Clinton ordered another 60 or so Tomahawks launched against six camps near Khost, Afghanistan. To justify its attacks, the White House invoked the specters of nerve gas and a gathering of international terrorists. Yet over the past 11 days, press reports have put the lie to several statements made by Clinton and his officers to justify the two attacks. As these statements have become inoperative, officials have spun new justifications - further raising suspicions the attacks were ordered to shift attention from Clinton's personal woes."
Kosovo happened after these missiles were shot. Don't you remember, it was the day Monica was testifying. Dick Morris said 75 missiles were shot at one million apiece and took out some tents and killed a few camels. They did $100 worth of damage for every million spent!!
QUETTA, Pakistan - A U.S. cruise missile fired at guerrilla camps in Afghanistan has been found unexploded in southwest Pakistan and a bomb disposal team has been sent to the site, officials in Baluchistan province said Monday.
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